Uttarkashi: Welding experts from Delhi arrive at Silkyara tunnel site

UTTARKASHI: Welding experts from Delhi have reached the Silkyara tunnel as a rescue operation to pull out 41 workers trapped for the last 12 days continued on Thursday.

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.

According to officials, rescuers have breached the debris considerably and the work of laying approximately 12 meters of pipeline remains.

Radhe Raman Dubey, a welder said he was brought to the site to weld the mild steel wire of the pipes that are being inserted into the debris.

According to the rescue plan, the trapped men will be pulled out through the 900 mm pipes which will be pushed inside the debris till a distance of around 60 meters so that the workers can crawl through them and come out safely.

"We are here to weld MS pipe inside the tunnel. Five welders have come here for the same...We'll do it with the help of welding machines," he said.

Mild steel welding wire is a type of welding wire made from low-alloy, high-strength steel.

Mild steel welding wire is used for thin metal sheets, such as roofing and siding. It is also used for light industrial applications, like joining pieces of metal pipe.

Chief Scientist and tunnel expert from Roorkee, RD Dwivedi who reached the site on Thursday morning, said that the team will give additional input if required to pull out the trapped labourers.

"A total of three people from CIMFR Roorkee are at the site. We are tunneling experts and we will take an update on the rescue operation going on here. We will give additional input if it is required," Dwivedi said.

Former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, Bhaskar Khulbe also reached the site.

According to the state government official, the rescue operation is at the final stage as the trapped workers are likely to be pulled out today.

"The preparations to rescue workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel are in the final stages and CM Pushkar Singh Dhami himself is present in Uttarkashi," Uttarakhand CMO said.

As of midnight, rescue teams had said that about 10 meters of debris separated them from the trapped workers.

According to rescue teams, the operation involved drilling through the debris to push wide pipes for the trapped workers to walk out through.

The auger machine, which drills through about 3 meters of debris in an hour, had earlier hit a metal obstruction. Medical equipment also reached the site.

The operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside a Uttarakhand tunnel for the past 12 days is in its critical phase.

A 41-bed hospital readied at the Community Health Centre in Chinyalisaur for medical examination and care of trapped workers after they are evacuated from the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi.