Uttarakhand tunnel: BJP criticises Congress for post against PM Modi

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam hit out at the Congress party on Tuesday over its post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand.

Dushyant Kumar called the post 'unfortunate' and said, "At a time when the whole country is praying for the lives of those 41 trapped labourers, despite being responsible Congress is engaged in banter or insulting others. It is very unfortunate."

Congress party's official handle on X, earlier today, posted an animated picture that shows PM Modi showing a green flag in front of the Silkyara tunnel with a caption that read, "Install some cameras and then get darshan of Saheb".

Meanwhile, multi-pronged rescue efforts continue at the Silkyara Tunnel collapse site. The relatives of the 41 trapped labourers have been asked to be prepared and keep the clothes and bags of the workers ready as the ongoing rescue effort raises hopes of an early evacuation, as per official sources.

According to the sources, the workers will be taken to Chinyalisaur Hospital after being rescued from the collapse site.

The efforts to rescue 41 trapped labourers are progressing on multiple fronts with both vertical and manual drilling works taking off at an almost similar pace from atop the hill and inside the tunnel accordingly.

As per official sources, the vertical drilling which was paused last night has also resumed and about 43 metres of drilling work have been done so far out of the 86 metres needed. The remaining work may take another 40 to 50 hours.

However, officials part of the vertical drilling team said that the work undertaken from the mouth of the tunnel is seen as the more feasible rescue option and that it will be completed faster than vertical drilling.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who has been monitoring the rescue operation told reporters today morning that almost 52 metres of drilling work has been done so far in totality.

"All the experts have been working for a long time. 52 metres of drilling work has been done, everyone is fine, everyone is full of energy. We hope the work will be completed as soon as possible. The manner in which the work is ongoing, we hope that there will be a breakthrough very soon," CM Dhami said.

As per official sources, about 57 metres of drilling work from the mouth of the tunnel, is to be done in total to lay a pipe inside the tunnel to reach the trapped workers.

CM Dhami reviewed the ongoing operations at the tunnel site. He was accompanied by Secretary to the Uttarakhand government Neeraj Khairwal, District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela, Uttarkashi SP Arpan Yaduvanshi, former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office Bhaskar Khulbe and Deputy Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office Mangesh Ghildiyal.

Asserting confidence, the workers involved in rat-hole mining inside the Silkyara tunnel said that the drilling work will be completed in 24 hours and the trapped labourers will be brought out soon.

Rat-hole miners are carrying out the manual drilling work which has been going on since Monday night. The debris thus generated is taken out manually using ropes from the rescue pipe.