Page 28 - Uttarakhand

SJVN's Naitwar Mori hydro project's first unit starts commercial operations

The first unit of SJVN's 60 MW Naitwar Mori Hydro Electric Project (NMHEP) in Uttarakhand has started commercial operations. The first unit of 30 MW capacity achieved the Commercial Operation Date (COD) today, the company's CMD Nand Lal Sharma said in a statement on Friday. "The unit has at 60 MW project achieved this COD after going through rigorous testing and successful synchronization with the national grid. With this achievement, the company has now furthered its total generation capacity to 2,122 MW from 2,091.50 MW," he said. It is a run of the river project located on river Tons, a major tributary of river Yamuna in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand with two generating units of 30 MW each. The second unit of the project is also expected to be commissioned within this month. The project will generate 265.5 million units of electricity annually and the power will be evacuated through the 37 kilometres-long 220 KV Transmission Line from Bainol to Snail, constructed by SJVN .

Drilling at Silkyara tunnel on hold for another day, workers await rescue

Drilling at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel to evacuate 41 workers trapped inside for 12 days was yet resume Friday evening, a day after it was put on hold following a snag. Officials said in the afternoon that technical issues have been sorted and the drilling was set to resume in a couple of hours. But till evening there was no announcement that the auger machine had begun drilling through the remaining stretch of about 12 metres. A ground penetrating radar has indicated that there are no metal hurdles up to five metres ahead of the passage drilled so far, Neeraj Khairwal, the state's nodal officer for the multi-agency rescue effort said. Simultaneously, sections of steel pipes were being laid into the drilled passage. Once this process is over, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) men would pull out the trapped workers through this escape chute, one by one. Over the night, officials said, the auger machine's platform was strengthened with quick-settling cement. Workers went o

Drilling to resume shortly: NDMA on Silkyara tunnel rescue operations

Workers to be rescued 'by any means': NDMA officials said on Silkyara tunnel mishap

Snag set right, drilling to resume at Silkyara tunnel, say officials

Rescue workers were set to begin drilling at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel Friday after putting it on hold for several hours, following a snag that delayed the operation to evacuate 41 men trapped inside for 12 days, officials said. Officials, at an afternoon news briefing, said that the technical problem that stalled the drilling on Wednesday had been set right, and the operation would begin in the next couple of hours. The boring would resume after the another section of steel pipes is welded to the chute already pushed through, they said. A ground penetrating radar has indicated that there are no metal hurdles up to five metres ahead of the passage bored through the debris of the tunnel's collapsed portion. There is no technical problem with the auger machine, but the rescue workers needed to strengthen the platform on which it is mounted, the officials said. The machine had drilled up to 48 metres in the rubble to create the escape passage. The steel pipe -- the pathway to ...

U'khand tunnel rescue: NDRF conducts evacuation rehearsal using stretchers

The NDRF on Friday conducted a rehearsal of how it would take its wheeled stretchers through the chute being prepared to rescue the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel. An NDRF personnel went through the passage, pushing a wheeled stretcher tied to a rope at the end of the tunnel and was pulled back up after completing the stretch. A passage has been made using 800 mm diameter steel pipes through the rubble at the tunnel to rescue the workers who have been trapped inside for the past 12 days. An NDRF personnel who went into the passage was lying on the wheeled stretcher facing downwards. There was enough room inside the pipes and he had no difficulty in breathing during the exercise, he said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has been camping at Matli since Thursday to closely monitor the rescue operations. A temporary camp of the chief minister's office has been set up there to help him perform his daily duties. The drilling and pushing pipes through the rubble has n

Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescue team to start drilling at 11 am today

The rescue team has placed broad pipes up to a depth of 45 metres through the debris

Union Min VK Singh reaches Uttarkashi tunnel site to inspect rescue ops

Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, General (retd) VK Singh, reached the Silkyara tunnel site on Friday to take stock of the ongoing efforts to rescue 41 trapped workers.The workers have now been trapped for 13 days on the opposite end of a portion of the under-construction tunnel, which collapsed on November 12.The rescue operations entered its final phase on Thursday, with officials saying that only a few metres were left to be drilled for the rescuers to reach the trapped workers.However, due to another technical snag in the auger drilling machine, which had been specially requisitioned for cutting through the debris, the rescue operations were briefly halted on Thursday.The rescuers drilled up to 46.8 metres inside the Silkyara tunnel till 10.20 pm on Thursday."Currently, the drilling machine is being repaired and it will take a few more hours to get it going again. Unless fresh problems crop up, the rescue operation should resume after 9 am tomorrow," an .

Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: CM Dhami tracks ops from temporary office camp

The ongoing rescue work entered its 13th day on Friday, with the trapped workers deemed safe and in good spirits

Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: Drilling work on hold at Silkyara tunnel

Pipe laid through the rubble to prepare an escape route for workers trapped at the Silkyara tunnel remained stalled on Friday morning with the platform on which the drilling machine stands being stabilised by shotcreting, an official said. Boring through the rubble was put on hold again Thursday apparently after cracks appeared in the platform on which the drilling machine rests, in a fresh hurdle to the rescue of 41 workers trapped inside for 12 days. The dampener came hours after the operation resumed earlier in the day, following a six-hour delay to cut through an iron girder that came in the way of the auger machine late Wednesday night. This is the third time that the drilling exercise has been halted since the multi-agency rescue mission began on November 12 after a stretch of the under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed.

U'khand tunnel: Board games, cards to help trapped workers relieve stress

Rescuers plan to provide board games and playing cards to the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel for 12 days as the operation to evacuate them continues to get disrupted by multiple delays, an official said on Thursday. Late on Thursday, boring through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel was put on hold again, apparently after cracks appeared in the platform on which the drilling machine rests. Dr Rohit Gondwal, one of the psychiatrists at the rescue site, told PTI, "We are planning to provide ludo and chess boards and playing cards to help them (trapped labourers) relieve stress. The operation is getting delayed and it appears that it will take some more time." He said all 41 workers are fine but need to stay healthy and mentally fit. "They told us that they play 'chor-police', do yoga and exercise daily to de-stress," Gondwal said. Speaking on the mental health of the trapped workers, another medical expert said their morale needs to stay high and they must remain ...

Uttarkashi tunnel incident: Drone cameras are being used for monitoring

The workers have been trapped for 13 days after a portion of the under-construction tunnel collapsed on November 12

Lack of safety standards will hamper tunnel safety audit in India

Neither has the Comptroller and Auditor General apparently conducted any audit ever to assess safety issues in such projects, satisfying itself with only checks on the money spent in the projects

So near yet so far: Rescue operations in Uttarkashi tunnel halted

From 22 metres, the pipe had reached 45 metres till Wednesday night, but the auger machine had to temporarily halt operations after an iron girder was encountered by authorities at the site

U'khand tunnel collapse: 'You can't act surprised,' says environment expert

While large projects in India are required by law to undergo an Environmental Impacts Assessment, the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand was exempt as it is divided into segments smaller than 100 km each

LIVE updates: Hearing for Adani-Hindenburg case scheduled for Friday

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Anand Mahindra prays for rescue of 41 trapped workers in Uttarkashi tunnel

The MC Group Chairman requested NDRF personnel for a rapid rescue. The labourers were trapped inside after a landslide on Diwali. The tunnel is a part of the centre's Char Dham project

Rescue operations at Silkyara tunnel to take 12-14 hours more: Khulbe

An iron mesh that came in the path of the drilling machine creating an escape passage for the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel was removed on Thursday morning but has delayed the rescue operation by 12 to 14 hours, a senior official said. Former advisor to the prime minister's office Bhaskar Khulbe said removing the mesh in a claustrophobic environment inside the pipe was difficult. "It took us six hours to remove it. But the good news is that we have cleared the hurdle which came yesterday after drilling up to 45 metres had been done," Khulbe told reporters. Now the process of assembling to go beyond 45 metres which requires welding the pipes has been restarted. The drilling will also resume soon, he said. It will take around 12 to 14 hours more to complete the whole operation of reaching the workers. After that, it will take three more hours to take out the workers one by one. That will be done with the help of NDRF, Khulbe said. Union Minister of State for Road Transport

Steel rods blocking rescue efforts removed at Slikyara Tunnel collapse site

According to Kulbe one of the main hindrances, the presence of steel rods along the path of the rescue pipes have now been removed

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Laying of 12-metre pipeline still left

The workers have been trapped since November 12, when the under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot got blocked due to debris falling in a 60-meter stretch on the Silkyara side

U'khand tunnel collapse exposes callous attitude towards safety: Unions

Central trade unions said the Silkyara Tunnel collapse in Uttarakashi in which 41 workers remain trapped "exposes the callous attitude" of the government towards the occupational safety and health of the workers. "The Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Federations/Associations express their anguish at the failure of the authorities to take responsibility for the Silkyara Tunnel collapse in Uttarakashi, Uttarakhand," said a joint statement issued by eleven trade unions and sectoral federations. The signatories include Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), United Trade Union Congress (UTUC), and independent Sectoral Federations and ...