Day 12: Machine damage stalls rescue operations at Uttarkashi tunnel

Delays caused by unforeseen obstacles and a fault in the auger machine stalled for over 24 hours the operations to rescue the 41 labourers trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara-Barkot tunnel for 12 days.

“No progress was made in moving the pipe into the tunnel between Thursday and Friday. The encumbrance encountered earlier took the entire night,” Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said on Friday evening.

The operations were to resume after removing the girder found on Thursday, but one of the pipes was found to have bent and putting pressure on the auger machine. The pipe had to be cut, which took the entire night, Hasnain added.

A transport ministry statement with updates till 3 pm on Friday said: “The auger had to pull back fully to assess any other damage to the pipe. That has been done. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) test and cutting of the bent pipe have been completed. Re-assembly of auger was also completed and it was reinserted by 2:30 pm.”

The GPR will now allow rescue staffers to see 5 metres ahead in the debris and spot obstacles. This, according to officials, can be a game-changer in the rescue efforts. Hasnain said that the auger, which had been partially damaged, had been repaired using quick-drying cement and other chemicals.

The GPR will continue to be used after every 5 metres. It will then be pulled out and used again once the auger machine has covered the distance detected by the GPR. “The auger will move extremely carefully,” Hasnain said.

The trapped workers, meanwhile, have been provided toiletries, and recreational things to keep their morale up. They have also spoken to their relatives. Of the 41 labourers, 15 are from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, five each from Odisha and Bihar, and the rest from Assam, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

In case there are further difficulties in rescue operations, an alternative would be a drift or micro-tunnel, which will likely take 15-20 days. Given the sensitive nature of the Himalayan geology, the last stretches will be a walk on eggshells, said officials.

On lessons for ongoing tunnel projects in sensitive areas, Hasnain said these projects needed to be fool-proof and eliminate even a "millionth of a chance" (of mishap).