MODI'S CURSED TUNNEL UPDATED
Trapped in a Tunnel for 15 Days, With No End in Sight
The effort to rescue 41 construction workers in India has faced repeated setbacks. Now the authorities are trying to drill vertically through a mountain.
Sanjay Basumatary, who had been working at the site since the summer, earns about $250 a month. His bother said the landslide occurred about three hours before Sanjay’s shift was to end on the morning of Nov. 12.
Jyotish Basumatary said he had spoken to his brother four times by shouting into a pipe. His brother had been surviving on raisins, cashews and almonds before the bigger pipe was inserted and a concoction of lentils and rice could be sent in bottles.
It is impossible to know how the men are holding up psychologically, Mr. Basumatary said. “We called out their names, and one by one they lined up — we could see them on the camera. But nobody spoke about how they felt,” he said.
Mr. Basumatary said his family back home was “restless, dejected and angry.”
“We want to know why an alternate escape was not prepared even before the work of the tunnel was begun,” he said.
The Indian news media reported that the same section of the Uttarakhand tunnel gave way in 2019, causing a delay in the work but no casualties. More than 200 people were killed after a flash flood trapped workers and residents near a major hydropower project in the region in 2021.
“One cannot survive without development,” said Sushil Khanduri, a former geologist with the state’s disaster management authority. “But at what cost? Development has to go hand in hand with the environment.”
Mujib Mashal contributed reporting.
Suhasini Raj has worked for over a decade as an investigative journalist with Indian and international news outlets. Based in the New Delhi bureau, she joined The Times in 2014.
The effort to rescue 41 construction workers in India has faced repeated setbacks. Now the authorities are trying to drill vertically through a mountain.
The rescue effort on Sunday outside the collapsed tunnel in India.
Credit...Harish Tyagi/EPA, via Shutterstock
By Suhasini Raj
By Suhasini Raj
NEW YORK TIMES
Nov. 27, 2023
Over the two weeks that dozens of Indian construction workers have been trapped in a Himalayan road tunnel, the authorities have reported meter-by-meter progress toward reaching them and offered hopeful timelines for their rescue. Each time a breakthrough has appeared imminent, politicians have rushed to the scene.
Yet 15 days after disaster struck, the 41 men are still stuck. Multiple attempts at boring through rubble have failed. And now, as Indian officials try a new tack — drilling down through the top of a mountain — they acknowledge that the effort will take several days, if it works at all.
“We feel a looming sense of doom,” said Jyotish Basumatary, whose brother, Sanjay Basumatary, is trapped inside. “But we are holding on tight. We cannot afford to give up hope.”
Jyotish, who works in a different part of the tunnel project and has been helping with the rescue endeavor, said he is now worried that colder weather would make the effort even more complicated. If it rains, “the workers’ hands would freeze,” he said by phone.
The 41 construction workers became stranded on Nov. 12 in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand after a landslide in the delicate mountain landscape caused a collapse in the tunnel they were building as part of a road construction project.
Nov. 27, 2023
Over the two weeks that dozens of Indian construction workers have been trapped in a Himalayan road tunnel, the authorities have reported meter-by-meter progress toward reaching them and offered hopeful timelines for their rescue. Each time a breakthrough has appeared imminent, politicians have rushed to the scene.
Yet 15 days after disaster struck, the 41 men are still stuck. Multiple attempts at boring through rubble have failed. And now, as Indian officials try a new tack — drilling down through the top of a mountain — they acknowledge that the effort will take several days, if it works at all.
“We feel a looming sense of doom,” said Jyotish Basumatary, whose brother, Sanjay Basumatary, is trapped inside. “But we are holding on tight. We cannot afford to give up hope.”
Jyotish, who works in a different part of the tunnel project and has been helping with the rescue endeavor, said he is now worried that colder weather would make the effort even more complicated. If it rains, “the workers’ hands would freeze,” he said by phone.
The 41 construction workers became stranded on Nov. 12 in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand after a landslide in the delicate mountain landscape caused a collapse in the tunnel they were building as part of a road construction project.
The authorities are now trying to drill down through the top of the mountain.
Credit...Arun Sankar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Shortly after the accident, officials were able to confirm that the men were safe and started communicating with them. Food, water, oxygen and medicine were sent in through pipes into the tunnel.
For many of their families, the only updates on the situation inside the tunnel have come from news reports. Their concerns eased a bit on Tuesday, when the authorities managed to send an endoscopy camera through the pipes, and the first images of the workers emerged.
The video showed the men standing in the tunnel and wearing hard hats, with a bright light shining behind them.
Their ordeal has stretched on as efforts to cut through the debris trapping them inside have hit a series of setbacks. Hundreds of officials and workers involved in the rescue were forced to turn to contingency plans, flying in machinery from other parts of India and bringing in experts from abroad.
Late last week, the authorities reported progress on an effort to insert pipes into the tunnel that would be used to extract the men. Officials had turned to the pipes after previous efforts to cut through the debris had caused more debris to fall.
But that work also hit a roadblock, after the auger machine being used to pierce through the rubble broke in the final stretch of drilling.
Sohan Singh, who is in charge of the district emergency operation center in Uttarkashi, the site of the tunnel, said the rescue effort was now focusing on several options simultaneously.
First, officials are working to extract and repair the broken auger machine, he said. Plan B is the work to drill down from the mountaintop. Plan C is to dig a tunnel from another side of the mountain.
Mr. Singh said that the auger remained the priority. New auger machines have arrived from other parts of the country, and drilling could resume after the broken machine is removed, he said.
As the work inched along last week, those involved said they were proceeding with extreme caution.
“We have a mountain that is unhappy; we know there has been an avalanche,” Arnold Dix, an international tunneling expert, told reporters gathered outside the tunnel. “To open the door safely, it means we have to bring extra care.”
The tunnel is part of a road project intended to provide quicker access to four major Hindu shrines. Access to pilgrimage sites has been a big part of the agenda of the governing Hindu nationalist party.
But the construction has faced criticism from environmentalists, including a committee appointed by India’s Supreme Court. They have warned that the landscape, with its frequent landslides and flooding, has become increasingly fragile as the planet warms.
Experts and news reports have raised alarms about how the country conducts environmental assessments for such projects. The procedures are so weak and vulnerable to political manipulation that disasters could be repeated, they said.
Most of the workers trapped in the tunnel are from India’s poorer states, such as Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam, places where many people leave to pursue employment elsewhere.
Shortly after the accident, officials were able to confirm that the men were safe and started communicating with them. Food, water, oxygen and medicine were sent in through pipes into the tunnel.
For many of their families, the only updates on the situation inside the tunnel have come from news reports. Their concerns eased a bit on Tuesday, when the authorities managed to send an endoscopy camera through the pipes, and the first images of the workers emerged.
The video showed the men standing in the tunnel and wearing hard hats, with a bright light shining behind them.
Their ordeal has stretched on as efforts to cut through the debris trapping them inside have hit a series of setbacks. Hundreds of officials and workers involved in the rescue were forced to turn to contingency plans, flying in machinery from other parts of India and bringing in experts from abroad.
Late last week, the authorities reported progress on an effort to insert pipes into the tunnel that would be used to extract the men. Officials had turned to the pipes after previous efforts to cut through the debris had caused more debris to fall.
But that work also hit a roadblock, after the auger machine being used to pierce through the rubble broke in the final stretch of drilling.
Sohan Singh, who is in charge of the district emergency operation center in Uttarkashi, the site of the tunnel, said the rescue effort was now focusing on several options simultaneously.
First, officials are working to extract and repair the broken auger machine, he said. Plan B is the work to drill down from the mountaintop. Plan C is to dig a tunnel from another side of the mountain.
Mr. Singh said that the auger remained the priority. New auger machines have arrived from other parts of the country, and drilling could resume after the broken machine is removed, he said.
As the work inched along last week, those involved said they were proceeding with extreme caution.
“We have a mountain that is unhappy; we know there has been an avalanche,” Arnold Dix, an international tunneling expert, told reporters gathered outside the tunnel. “To open the door safely, it means we have to bring extra care.”
The tunnel is part of a road project intended to provide quicker access to four major Hindu shrines. Access to pilgrimage sites has been a big part of the agenda of the governing Hindu nationalist party.
But the construction has faced criticism from environmentalists, including a committee appointed by India’s Supreme Court. They have warned that the landscape, with its frequent landslides and flooding, has become increasingly fragile as the planet warms.
Experts and news reports have raised alarms about how the country conducts environmental assessments for such projects. The procedures are so weak and vulnerable to political manipulation that disasters could be repeated, they said.
Most of the workers trapped in the tunnel are from India’s poorer states, such as Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam, places where many people leave to pursue employment elsewhere.
The first images of the trapped workers after an endoscopy camera was sent in through pipes last week.
Credit...Uttarakhand Department of Information and Public Relations, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Sanjay Basumatary, who had been working at the site since the summer, earns about $250 a month. His bother said the landslide occurred about three hours before Sanjay’s shift was to end on the morning of Nov. 12.
Jyotish Basumatary said he had spoken to his brother four times by shouting into a pipe. His brother had been surviving on raisins, cashews and almonds before the bigger pipe was inserted and a concoction of lentils and rice could be sent in bottles.
It is impossible to know how the men are holding up psychologically, Mr. Basumatary said. “We called out their names, and one by one they lined up — we could see them on the camera. But nobody spoke about how they felt,” he said.
Mr. Basumatary said his family back home was “restless, dejected and angry.”
“We want to know why an alternate escape was not prepared even before the work of the tunnel was begun,” he said.
The Indian news media reported that the same section of the Uttarakhand tunnel gave way in 2019, causing a delay in the work but no casualties. More than 200 people were killed after a flash flood trapped workers and residents near a major hydropower project in the region in 2021.
“One cannot survive without development,” said Sushil Khanduri, a former geologist with the state’s disaster management authority. “But at what cost? Development has to go hand in hand with the environment.”
Mujib Mashal contributed reporting.
Suhasini Raj has worked for over a decade as an investigative journalist with Indian and international news outlets. Based in the New Delhi bureau, she joined The Times in 2014.
Rainy weather closing in on rescuers trying to reach trapped men
Bad weather was approaching with thunderstorms, hail and lower temperatures expected in the mountains but rescue organisers said they would handle it.
)
As well as the thunder and hail, cold weather is setting in with a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit) expected on Monday. (Image credit: Reuters)
Wet weather expected on Monday could mean more complications for the rescue of 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas for more than two weeks but rescue leaders said they are prepared to deal with it. The workers, from some of India's poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5 km (3 miles) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on Nov. 12.
Bad weather was approaching with thunderstorms, hail and lower temperatures expected in the mountains but rescue organisers said they would handle it.
"They are trained in working in every situation so that's not a worry for us," said Mahmood Ahmad, managing director of the NHIDCL company, which is building the tunnel and helping with the rescue, referring to rescue teams.
The 41 trapped men have been getting food, water, light, oxygen, and medicines through a narrow pipe but efforts to dig them a tunnel to bring them out have run into a series of snags. Rescuers trying to drill a tunnel horizontally through the rocks trapping the men have been plagued by damage to their machinery and have resorted to drilling by hand, after clearing away the broken equipment.
On Sunday, they opened another route to the men, aiming to drill a shaft straight down from the top of the mountain above them to get them out. "Difficulties will come, difficulties have been coming, but we are prepared for it," said Jasvant Kapoor, a general manager of the SJVNL drilling company which is in charge of the new shaft.
As well as the thunder and hail, cold weather is setting in with a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit) expected on Monday. The tunnel is part of the Char Dham highway, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's most ambitious projects, aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through 890 km of roads. Authorities have not said what caused the initial cave-in that trapped the men as they were nearing the end of their night shift but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes, and floods.
Associated Press
Updated Mon, November 27, 2023
Indian army personnel prepare to deploy a small excavator at the site of an under-construction road tunnel that had collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. Rescuers are racing to evacuate 41 construction workers who have been trapped in the tunnel for nearly two weeks.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in India said on Monday they were set to begin manual digging of what they hoped was the final phase of rescuing the 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country's north for over two weeks.
Rescuers have started to drill vertically — an alternate plan to digging horizontally from the front — with a newly replaced drilling machine excavating about 32 meters (105 feet), according to officials.
Devendra Patwal, a disaster management official at the site, said they were prepared for all kinds of challenges, but hoped they wouldn’t face stiff resistance from the mountain.
“We don’t know what the drilling machine will have to cut through. It could be loose soil or rocks. But we are prepared,” he said.
So far, rescuers have excavated and inserted pipes — after digging horizontally — up to 46 meters (150 feet), welded together to serve as a passageway from where the men would be pulled out on wheeled stretchers.
The drilling machine broke down repeatedly because of the mountainous terrain of the area and was damaged irreparably on Friday and had to be replaced.
Rescuers worked overnight to pull out parts of the drilling machine stuck inside the pipes so manual digging could start, said Patwal.
The workers have been trapped since Nov. 12 when a landslide in Uttarakhand state caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) tunnel they were building to collapse about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance.
The vertical digging, which started Sunday, required the rescuers to excavate about 106 meters (347 feet). The length is nearly double the approximately 60 meters (196 feet) they need to dig through horizontally from the front.
They could also face similar risks or problems they encountered earlier that damaged the first drilling machine attempting to cut through rocks. The high-intensity vibrations from drilling could also cause more debris to fall.
As the rescue operation entered its 16th day, uncertainty over its fate has been growing. Some locals offered Hindu prayers near the tunnel.
What began as a rescue mission expected to take a few days has turned into weeks, and officials have been hesitant to give a timeline.
Some officials were hopeful that the rescue mission would be completed last week. Arnold Dix, an international expert assisting the rescue team, however, told reporters he was confident the workers would be back with their families by Christmas, suggesting they were prepared for a longer operation.
Most of the trapped workers are migrant laborers from across the country. Many of their families have traveled to the location, where they have camped out for days to get updates on the rescue effort and in hopes of seeing their relatives soon.
Authorities have supplied the trapped workers with hot meals through a 6-inch (15-centimeter) pipe after days of surviving only on dry food sent through a narrower pipe. Oxygen is also being supplied through a separate pipe, and more than a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, have been at the site monitoring their health.
The tunnel the workers were building was designed as part of the Chardham all-weather road, which will connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites. Some experts say the project, a flagship initiative of the federal government, will exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas, where several towns are built atop landslide debris.
Large numbers of pilgrims and tourists visit Uttarakhand’s many Hindu temples, with the number increasing over the years because of the continued construction of buildings and roadways.
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescuers explore new ways to reach trapped Indians
Anant Zanane in Uttarkashi and Nikhila Henry in Delhi - BBC News
Mon, November 27, 2023
Rescue operations have been going on for over a fortnight in Uttarakhand
Authorities are working on new ways to reach the 41 Indian workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand state after the main rescue plan suffered a major delay.
Until now, rescuers were drilling a hole horizontally through the rocks to allow the men to crawl through.
But the operation was halted after the drilling machine broke down on Friday.
The workers have been stuck for two weeks after a part of the tunnel collapsed due to a landslide.
The operation has been challenging from the beginning, mainly due to the presence of falling boulders, loose soil and metal inside the tunnel.
On Friday, the rescuers seemed to be making steady progress when the drilling machine broke down inside the tunnel after getting stuck on pieces of metal that have been mixed in with the debris.
The machine was completely removed on Monday morning.
In the meantime, rescuers have started to dig vertically into the tunnel to carve an alternative route for the trapped men.
Officials say they are also exploring other techniques, including manual digging, to reach them faster.
Vertical drilling
As per the plan, the rescuers will try to reach the workers from the top of the hill in Silkyara of Uttarakashi district, under which the tunnel was being constructed.
Officials have already created access roads and platforms to reach the top.
The rescuers will have to drill 86m (282 feet) downward to reach the workers - that's nearly double the distance of the horizontal route (46.6m).
By Monday morning, authorities had managed to dig 31m into the tunnel.
A boring machine is being used to drill a vertical hole into the collapsed tunnel
Mahmood Ahmed, a senior official at the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is leading the rescue operations, said that at the given pace, the rescue operations could be completed in another 100 hours "if no other hurdle comes our way".
If the process is completed smoothly, the workers will be pulled out in buckets through the vertical hole, according to The Hindu newspaper.
Officials say that bad weather, with approaching thunderstorms and the possibility of snowfall in the Himalayan region, could complicate the process - but add that they are prepared to deal with the situation.
Perpendicular drilling
Until now, authorities had been working to send multiple pipes of differing widths through the estimated 60m (197ft) debris wall to create a micro-tunnel through which the workers could be wheeled out on stretchers.
Now, they are also planning to drill 180m perpendicular to the main site of drilling to create an alternate route to reach the workers.
Army personnel are helping with the rescue efforts
A platform was erected on Sunday to mount the special drills which will be used for this process, the Hindu reported.
But officials have not yet commented on the status of the operation.
Manual digging
Rescuers had managed to drill 34m downwards horizontally, with just 12m remaining, when the auger machine broke down on Friday.
The operation was put on hold until the emergency crews removed the machine from the tunnel, which was completed on Monday morning.
Now rescuers will start digging manually to remove the remaining debris from the route.
But they will continue to use a drilling machine to push the pipes into the opening, officials said.
Mon, November 27, 2023
Rescue operations have been going on for over a fortnight in Uttarakhand
Authorities are working on new ways to reach the 41 Indian workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand state after the main rescue plan suffered a major delay.
Until now, rescuers were drilling a hole horizontally through the rocks to allow the men to crawl through.
But the operation was halted after the drilling machine broke down on Friday.
The workers have been stuck for two weeks after a part of the tunnel collapsed due to a landslide.
The operation has been challenging from the beginning, mainly due to the presence of falling boulders, loose soil and metal inside the tunnel.
On Friday, the rescuers seemed to be making steady progress when the drilling machine broke down inside the tunnel after getting stuck on pieces of metal that have been mixed in with the debris.
The machine was completely removed on Monday morning.
In the meantime, rescuers have started to dig vertically into the tunnel to carve an alternative route for the trapped men.
Officials say they are also exploring other techniques, including manual digging, to reach them faster.
Vertical drilling
As per the plan, the rescuers will try to reach the workers from the top of the hill in Silkyara of Uttarakashi district, under which the tunnel was being constructed.
Officials have already created access roads and platforms to reach the top.
The rescuers will have to drill 86m (282 feet) downward to reach the workers - that's nearly double the distance of the horizontal route (46.6m).
By Monday morning, authorities had managed to dig 31m into the tunnel.
A boring machine is being used to drill a vertical hole into the collapsed tunnel
Mahmood Ahmed, a senior official at the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is leading the rescue operations, said that at the given pace, the rescue operations could be completed in another 100 hours "if no other hurdle comes our way".
If the process is completed smoothly, the workers will be pulled out in buckets through the vertical hole, according to The Hindu newspaper.
Officials say that bad weather, with approaching thunderstorms and the possibility of snowfall in the Himalayan region, could complicate the process - but add that they are prepared to deal with the situation.
Perpendicular drilling
Until now, authorities had been working to send multiple pipes of differing widths through the estimated 60m (197ft) debris wall to create a micro-tunnel through which the workers could be wheeled out on stretchers.
Now, they are also planning to drill 180m perpendicular to the main site of drilling to create an alternate route to reach the workers.
Army personnel are helping with the rescue efforts
A platform was erected on Sunday to mount the special drills which will be used for this process, the Hindu reported.
But officials have not yet commented on the status of the operation.
Manual digging
Rescuers had managed to drill 34m downwards horizontally, with just 12m remaining, when the auger machine broke down on Friday.
The operation was put on hold until the emergency crews removed the machine from the tunnel, which was completed on Monday morning.
Now rescuers will start digging manually to remove the remaining debris from the route.
But they will continue to use a drilling machine to push the pipes into the opening, officials said.
Indian workers trapped in collapsed tunnel for 15 days will be out ‘by Christmas’, says expert
Stuti Mishra
Indian workers who have been stuck inside an under-construction tunnel for 15 days will be out “by Christmas”, according to a tunnelling expert who is assisting the rescue effort.
The comments are an indication that the 41 workers may have to remain trapped inside the tunnel under inhospitable conditions for potentially a month longer than expected.
It comes as more bad news for the families of the workers, who have been waiting anxiously for them to be rescued, with many camping out at the site of the operation.
India’s authorities said that they are working to figure out a faster solution to evacuate the construction workers who have been stuck there since 12 November, while the Indian army has now joined the rescue effort.
Rescue teams have faced repeated issues with the drilling operation, from new landslides to equipment breakdowns, and now admit the operation could take much more time.
Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who has been working with Indian officials, told the media he had “always promised that they will be home by Christmas”.
“This operation could take a long time,” said Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the country’s National Disaster Management Authority.
Progress was halted as an auger machine being used to drill a hole stopped working (EPA)
The rescue operation could take several more weeks as teams drilling through rocks and debris faced a new hurdle after the auger machine being used to drill a hole in the collapsed tunnel stopped working on Saturday.
The blades of the auger machine got stuck in the debris and the machine stopped working. The machine had drilled about 6.5ft of the last 40-foot stretch of rock debris to create a passage for the workers to come out.
Experts are now focusing on two alternative rescue plans.
One involves workers, including the Indian army, carrying out a manual drilling exercise to excavate the roughly 33ft stretch needed to reach the workers.
The other involves vertically drilling 282ft from above, something that could take much longer.
The rescue operations have been taking longer as the tunnel is located in an environmentally sensitive region in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
The workers, who are migrant labourers from various parts of India, are being provided with oxygen, food and water through a pipe.
Doctors and officials have been in regular contact with them, and have continually assessed their health and wellbeing.
Stuti Mishra
INDEPENDENT
Sun, November 26, 2023
Sun, November 26, 2023
Indian workers who have been stuck inside an under-construction tunnel for 15 days will be out “by Christmas”, according to a tunnelling expert who is assisting the rescue effort.
The comments are an indication that the 41 workers may have to remain trapped inside the tunnel under inhospitable conditions for potentially a month longer than expected.
It comes as more bad news for the families of the workers, who have been waiting anxiously for them to be rescued, with many camping out at the site of the operation.
India’s authorities said that they are working to figure out a faster solution to evacuate the construction workers who have been stuck there since 12 November, while the Indian army has now joined the rescue effort.
Rescue teams have faced repeated issues with the drilling operation, from new landslides to equipment breakdowns, and now admit the operation could take much more time.
Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who has been working with Indian officials, told the media he had “always promised that they will be home by Christmas”.
“This operation could take a long time,” said Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the country’s National Disaster Management Authority.
Progress was halted as an auger machine being used to drill a hole stopped working (EPA)
The rescue operation could take several more weeks as teams drilling through rocks and debris faced a new hurdle after the auger machine being used to drill a hole in the collapsed tunnel stopped working on Saturday.
The blades of the auger machine got stuck in the debris and the machine stopped working. The machine had drilled about 6.5ft of the last 40-foot stretch of rock debris to create a passage for the workers to come out.
Experts are now focusing on two alternative rescue plans.
One involves workers, including the Indian army, carrying out a manual drilling exercise to excavate the roughly 33ft stretch needed to reach the workers.
The other involves vertically drilling 282ft from above, something that could take much longer.
The rescue operations have been taking longer as the tunnel is located in an environmentally sensitive region in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
The workers, who are migrant labourers from various parts of India, are being provided with oxygen, food and water through a pipe.
Doctors and officials have been in regular contact with them, and have continually assessed their health and wellbeing.
Rescuers try new tack to reach Indian tunnel workers
Reuters Videos
Sun, November 26, 2023
STORY: Two weeks in, a new tactic to rescue 41 workers trapped in a highway tunnel in the Indian Himalayas.
Rescuers began drilling vertically on Sunday (November 26) from the top of the mountain, government officials said, adding it will take about 100 hours.
The rescue plan initially involved pushing a pipe wide enough to pull the trapped men out on wheeled stretchers.
But that hit a set back on Friday (November 24) when a heavy drill broke, leaving rescuers reliant on hand-held power tools to break through the rock.
The construction workers, who come from some of India's poorest states, have been stuck in the 3-mile tunnel being built in Uttarakhand state since it caved in on Nov. 12.
They are safe, with access to light, oxygen, food, water and medicines, authorities have said.
The father of 22-year-old Majeet Chaudhary, who is stuck in the tunnel, says he wants his son to change job when he gets out. "I want him to stay near me," he says.
Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel collapse, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
A panel of experts investigating the disaster has found the tunnel had no emergency exit and was built through a geological fault, according to one of its member speaking on condition of anonymity.
The men have been getting cooked food such as lentils, flatbreads and vegetable curry since a larger lifeline pipe was pushed through earlier this week.
Sun, November 26, 2023
STORY: Two weeks in, a new tactic to rescue 41 workers trapped in a highway tunnel in the Indian Himalayas.
Rescuers began drilling vertically on Sunday (November 26) from the top of the mountain, government officials said, adding it will take about 100 hours.
The rescue plan initially involved pushing a pipe wide enough to pull the trapped men out on wheeled stretchers.
But that hit a set back on Friday (November 24) when a heavy drill broke, leaving rescuers reliant on hand-held power tools to break through the rock.
The construction workers, who come from some of India's poorest states, have been stuck in the 3-mile tunnel being built in Uttarakhand state since it caved in on Nov. 12.
They are safe, with access to light, oxygen, food, water and medicines, authorities have said.
The father of 22-year-old Majeet Chaudhary, who is stuck in the tunnel, says he wants his son to change job when he gets out. "I want him to stay near me," he says.
Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel collapse, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
A panel of experts investigating the disaster has found the tunnel had no emergency exit and was built through a geological fault, according to one of its member speaking on condition of anonymity.
The men have been getting cooked food such as lentils, flatbreads and vegetable curry since a larger lifeline pipe was pushed through earlier this week.
Indian army digs by hand to free 41 trapped tunnel workers
Jalees ANDRABI
Sun, November 26, 2023
The Silkyara road tunnel in northern India, which partially collapsed on November 12 (Arun SANKAR)
Indian military engineers were preparing to dig by hand Monday to reach 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 16 days, a rescue operation hit by repeated setbacks.
Soldiers plan to use a so-called "rat-hole mining" technique, digging by hand to clear the rocks and rubble over the remaining nine metres (29 feet), with temperatures plummeting in the remote mountain location in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
Last week, engineers working to drive a metal pipe horizontally through 57 metres (187 feet) of rock and concrete ran into metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the earth, snapping a giant earth-boring augur machine.
"The broken parts of the auger (drilling) machine stuck inside the tunnel have been removed", senior local civil servant Abhishek Ruhela told AFP on Monday, after a specialised superheated plasma cutter was brought in to clear the metal.
"Preparations are being made to start manual drilling work," he added. "Indian Army engineering battalion personnel, along with other rescue officers, are preparing to do rat-hole mining".
Engineers in the bitterly cold conditions will use manual drills to clear the route, a tough task in the narrow pipe, just wide enough for a man to crawl through.
- 'Challenging' -
In a separate effort, vertical drilling has reached more than a quarter of the 89 metres down to the men, a risky route in an area that has already suffered a collapse.
A drilling machine was brought up to the forested hill above the tunnel on a specially-constructed track.
"Vertical drilling is going on at a fast pace," with teams having reached 19 metres (63 feet) by late Sunday, said Mahmood Ahmed, a top official in the national roads ministry.
Work is ongoing at "full speed but with caution", he added.
Digging, blasting and drilling have also begun from the far side of the road tunnel, a much longer third route estimated to be around 480 metres.
The 41 construction workers have been trapped in the Silkyara road tunnel since November 12.
Efforts have been painfully slow, complicated by falling debris and repeated breakdowns of drilling machines.
Hopes that the team was on the verge of a breakthrough on Wednesday were dashed, with a government statement warning of the "challenging Himalayan terrain".
For the distraught relatives of the trapped men, it has been an ordeal without an imminent end in sight.
But Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami vowed Monday that all the men would be rescued.
"Do not worry, all the labourers will be taken out safely", he said on X, formerly Twitter.
The workers were seen alive for the first time on Tuesday, peering into the lens of an endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, water and electricity are being delivered.
Though trapped, they have plenty of space in the tunnel, with the area inside 8.5 metres high and stretching about two kilometres in length.
bur-pjm/mca
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescuers to dig by hand to rescue trapped workers
BBC
Sat, November 25, 2023
Ambulances and men waiting outside a tunnel
Rescue work to save 41 workers trapped in a tunnel in India's Uttarakhand state has been delayed by at least four to five days because the drilling machine broke down inside the tunnel.
Rescuers will begin digging manually once the faulty part is removed.
The workers have been stuck inside the tunnel for two weeks after a portion of it collapsed due to a landslide.
The operation has been challenging due to the presence of rocks, stones and metal inside the debris.
Rescuers have to resort to drilling by hand because the auger keeps getting stuck on pieces of metal that have been mixed in with the debris, and say it would be better to switch to manual drilling instead of waiting for a replacement machine.
Arnold Dix, a tunnelling expert helping with the rescue work, told reporters at the site: "The machine has broken. It's irreparable. It is disrupted."
But Mr Dix said he was confident the 41 men would return home, saying there were "many ways" to reach them.
A section of the 4.5km (3 miles) Silkyara tunnel in the Indian Himalayas caved in on 12 November.
Contact was established with the trapped men shortly thereafter, and they have been receiving oxygen, food, and water ever since.
Rescuers were just 9m (30ft) from breaking through to the workers before the auger broke.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, chief minister of Uttarakhand state, told reporters on Saturday that the damaged drilling machine would be taken out by Sunday morning allowing rescuers to continue digging manually.
Mr Dhami told reporters he had spoken to the trapped men, saying: "They are in good spirits. They said: 'Take as many days as you require, don't worry about us.'"
In the meantime, ambulances have been kept on standby outside the tunnel. Officials say the aim is to pull the workers out to safety and shift them to the nearby hospital as quickly as possible.
Indian tunnel rescue halted for days as drilling machine breaks down
BBC
Sat, November 25, 2023
Ambulances and men waiting outside a tunnel
Rescue work to save 41 workers trapped in a tunnel in India's Uttarakhand state has been delayed by at least four to five days because the drilling machine broke down inside the tunnel.
Rescuers will begin digging manually once the faulty part is removed.
The workers have been stuck inside the tunnel for two weeks after a portion of it collapsed due to a landslide.
The operation has been challenging due to the presence of rocks, stones and metal inside the debris.
Rescuers have to resort to drilling by hand because the auger keeps getting stuck on pieces of metal that have been mixed in with the debris, and say it would be better to switch to manual drilling instead of waiting for a replacement machine.
Arnold Dix, a tunnelling expert helping with the rescue work, told reporters at the site: "The machine has broken. It's irreparable. It is disrupted."
But Mr Dix said he was confident the 41 men would return home, saying there were "many ways" to reach them.
A section of the 4.5km (3 miles) Silkyara tunnel in the Indian Himalayas caved in on 12 November.
Contact was established with the trapped men shortly thereafter, and they have been receiving oxygen, food, and water ever since.
Rescuers were just 9m (30ft) from breaking through to the workers before the auger broke.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, chief minister of Uttarakhand state, told reporters on Saturday that the damaged drilling machine would be taken out by Sunday morning allowing rescuers to continue digging manually.
Mr Dhami told reporters he had spoken to the trapped men, saying: "They are in good spirits. They said: 'Take as many days as you require, don't worry about us.'"
In the meantime, ambulances have been kept on standby outside the tunnel. Officials say the aim is to pull the workers out to safety and shift them to the nearby hospital as quickly as possible.
Indian tunnel rescue halted for days as drilling machine breaks down
Michael Dorgan
FOX NEWS
Sat, November 25, 2023
Indian tunnel rescue halted for days as drilling machine breaks down
The race to save 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in northern India has hit yet another setback as the drilling machine rescuers have been using has broken down and cannot be repaired – bringing the entire rescue operation to a halt.
The workers have been trapped beneath a collapsed road tunnel in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state for 13 days after a portion of it collapsed due to a landslide. Reports suggest it may take four to five days to resume drilling as a new machine is put in place.
Rescuers have been beset by setbacks and delays as they struggle to drill through the 195 feet of heavy rock and debris that is separating them from the trapped workers. Rescue personnel have been in regular contact with the workers, and they have been able to send them oxygen, dry food and water.
A U.S.-made auger machine was being used to penetrate horizontally through the mountainous terrain, but it broke down on Saturday and cannot be repaired. It is unclear what caused the machine to break.
It came just a day after the machine’s platform became destabilized and halted operations. The 25-tonne platform was reinforced with concrete and drilling resumed, but the machine broke down again.
Arnold Dix, an international expert assisting the rescue team at the accident site, said it is unclear when exactly the drilling will restart. A new machine is being set up at the site in order to drill vertically.
"The machine is busted, it is irreparable," Dix said about the broken machine. "The mountain has once again resisted the auger (machine)."
The machine’s high-intensity vibrations were also causing more debris to fall, prompting officials to suspend rescue efforts briefly.
Sat, November 25, 2023
Indian tunnel rescue halted for days as drilling machine breaks down
The race to save 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in northern India has hit yet another setback as the drilling machine rescuers have been using has broken down and cannot be repaired – bringing the entire rescue operation to a halt.
The workers have been trapped beneath a collapsed road tunnel in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state for 13 days after a portion of it collapsed due to a landslide. Reports suggest it may take four to five days to resume drilling as a new machine is put in place.
Rescuers have been beset by setbacks and delays as they struggle to drill through the 195 feet of heavy rock and debris that is separating them from the trapped workers. Rescue personnel have been in regular contact with the workers, and they have been able to send them oxygen, dry food and water.
A U.S.-made auger machine was being used to penetrate horizontally through the mountainous terrain, but it broke down on Saturday and cannot be repaired. It is unclear what caused the machine to break.
It came just a day after the machine’s platform became destabilized and halted operations. The 25-tonne platform was reinforced with concrete and drilling resumed, but the machine broke down again.
Arnold Dix, an international expert assisting the rescue team at the accident site, said it is unclear when exactly the drilling will restart. A new machine is being set up at the site in order to drill vertically.
"The machine is busted, it is irreparable," Dix said about the broken machine. "The mountain has once again resisted the auger (machine)."
The machine’s high-intensity vibrations were also causing more debris to fall, prompting officials to suspend rescue efforts briefly.
Rescue personnel move a digging machine during a rescue operation for workers trapped in a tunnel in northern India.
On Wednesday, the operation was stalled after workers encountered a thick metal rod that had to be cut using gas cutters, the BBC reported.
The machine stopped working after it had drilled about 6.5 feet of the last 40-foot stretch of rock debris that would open a passage for the workers to come out of the tunnel.
Rescue teams were planning on creating an escape route comprised of a tunnel of pipes welded together. Once in place, rescue teams hoped the workers could escape to freedom.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, chief minister of Uttarakhand state, said the damaged drilling machine would be taken out by Sunday morning. He said he had spoken to some of the trapped men.
"They are in good spirits," Dhami said, according to the BBC.
"Take as many days as you require, don't worry about us," Dhami said, quoting one of the workers.
A new drilling machine used to dig vertically was brought to the accident site on Saturday.
The vertical dig is seen as an alternative plan to reach the trapped men, and rescuers have already created an access road to the top of the hill.
However, rescue teams will need to dig about 440 feet downward to reach the trapped workers — nearly double the distance of the horizontal shaft.
The construction workers have been trapped since Nov. 12 when a landslide caused a portion of the 2.7-mile Silkyara tunnel they were building to collapse about 500 feet from the entrance. The hilly area is prone to landslides and subsidence.
Rescue workers look on as they prepare for drilling during a rescue operation for workers trapped in a tunnel in India.
The workers had been helping to construct a section of a 424-mile road connecting various Hindu pilgrimage sites in the area. The mountainous topography has several Hindu temples that attract pilgrims and tourists.
More than a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, have been at the accident site monitoring their health.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rescue of Workers Trapped for Weeks Delayed as Drill Breaks
Chaya Tong
Sat, November 25, 2023
Arun Sankar / Getty Images
Drilling to rescue the 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India has once again hit a literal block in the road as the drilling machine broke down while clearing debris on Friday. Arnold Dix, an expert helping the rescue team, said the machine is irreparable and that it remains unclear when drilling can resume. The workers have been stuck since Nov. 12 after a landslide collapsed the tunnel they were working in. The machine stopped working after drilling 2 out of the 12 meters left to reach the workers. A new machine was brought to the site on Saturday for a vertical dig, which is an alternative rescue plan that would require 103 meters of digging. In the meantime, workers have been supplied with food and oxygen through narrow pipes as many of their families camp outside the site waiting for them.
Read it at ABC News
Wait goes on for Indian tunnel workers trapped for 14 days as drilling machine ‘irreparable’
Stuti Mishra
AFP
Sat, November 25, 2023
The 41 Indian workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel for 14 days will have to wait even longer to be rescued as officials trying to pull them out have faced yet another unexpected hurdle.
A drilling machine that is being used to remove debris and install a pipe to evacuate the workers has broken down, an international expert aiding rescue operations said on Saturday.
The construction workers have been trapped inside the 2.8-mile-long tunnel since 12 November after a landslide in an environmentally sensitive region in northern India’s Uttarakhand state led to its collapse.
The extensive operation to free the workers has become an increasing source of concern for their families, who are anxiously waiting to reunite with their loved ones.
Officials have repeatedly said the workers will be rescued soon, but have hit repeated major technical issues.
“The machine [to drill through the debris] is busted,” said Arnold Dix, an international expert assisting the rescue team at the accident site.
“It is irreparable,” he said, while adding that it is unclear when drilling will begin again.
“The mountain has once again resisted the auger (machine).”
Rescuers have since been working by hand to remove debris.
Sat, November 25, 2023
The 41 Indian workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel for 14 days will have to wait even longer to be rescued as officials trying to pull them out have faced yet another unexpected hurdle.
A drilling machine that is being used to remove debris and install a pipe to evacuate the workers has broken down, an international expert aiding rescue operations said on Saturday.
The construction workers have been trapped inside the 2.8-mile-long tunnel since 12 November after a landslide in an environmentally sensitive region in northern India’s Uttarakhand state led to its collapse.
The extensive operation to free the workers has become an increasing source of concern for their families, who are anxiously waiting to reunite with their loved ones.
Officials have repeatedly said the workers will be rescued soon, but have hit repeated major technical issues.
“The machine [to drill through the debris] is busted,” said Arnold Dix, an international expert assisting the rescue team at the accident site.
“It is irreparable,” he said, while adding that it is unclear when drilling will begin again.
“The mountain has once again resisted the auger (machine).”
Rescuers have since been working by hand to remove debris.
A view of the collapsed under construction Silkyara tunnel in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state (AFP via Getty Images)
The teams faced setbacks earlier too with the drilling machine, but had made slow progress to reach the sensitive spot, about 650ft from the entrance, where the workers are stuck.
The mountainous terrain in the area has made it difficult for drilling machines to break through debris. Rescue teams had devised a horizontal drilling plan and inserted pipes into a dug-out channel, creating a passageway for the workers to be pulled out on wheeled stretchers.
The auger machine had drilled about 6.5ft of the last 40-foot stretch of rock debris to create a passage for the workers to come out.
About 151ft of pipe has been laid so far, according to Devendra Patwal, a disaster management officer, reported Reuters.
But because of the drilling machine not working any longer, government officials are now looking to begin an alternative, vertical drilling strategy.
Rescuers will have to cover twice the distance of the originally planned horizontal shaft, potentially further delaying rescue efforts.
A new vertical drilling machine was transported for this purpose to the accident site on Saturday.
While rescue teams have established an access road to the hill’s summit, they must now dig downward for 338ft to reach the workers.
The workers, who are migrant labourers from various parts of India, are being provided with oxygen, food and water through a pipe.
Doctors and officials have been in regular contact with them, and have continually assessed their health and well-being. But the anxious families of the workers are now camping at the accident site with the hope of seeing their loved ones soon.
The tunnel being built by the workers was designed as part of an all-weather road that aims to connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand.
The flagship project has raised concerns over the risks of construction and drilling in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region once again.
Several towns in the region are built over landslide debris and have been facing increasing risks landslides, land subsidence and floods.
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