Arnold Dix Calls Tunnel Collapse In Uttarkashi ‘Unusual Occurrence’, Suggests Investigation

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India]: International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said that there was no chance of a collapse in the area where the incident happened, in which 41 workers have been trapped for two weeks while urging to investigate the matter.

“It may have been an unusual situation occurring here where the class of rock changes. It has to be investigated. The area that collapsed hasn’t collapsed before; it wasn’t even given any clue that it was going to collapse before. So, it is a part of the challenge for us–what is it about the ground here, this mountain that caught us on the backfoot,” he said.

He further said the auger machine cutting that got stuck in the debris of the Silkyara tunnel is progressing fast after plasma cutters were brought in on Sunday morning.

“The auger machine failed, and we are having a lot of technical difficulties in getting the auger out of the pipe. That’s (the process of cutting it out) going much faster this morning as plasma cutters have come,” Arnold Dix said.

“Brave men who are going in there in a pipe with plasma cutters and cutting it piece by piece–that’s happening now. The progress is faster this morning. Once we have the auger out, we can go in and have a look at the pipe, see what condition it is in, and then we can assess what next,” he added.

Speaking on the ongoing rescue operations, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that manual drilling would begin after the auger machine was cut and brought out.

“The auger machine has to be cut and brought out. It seems that it will be completed soon, within a few more hours. After that, manual drilling will begin,” CM Dhami added.

The plasma cutter, specially requisitioned and flown to the tunnel site from Hyderabad to aid the process of removing the heavy-duty drilling machine and the stuck auger blades from inside the tunnel, was put to work on Sunday morning.

The process of removing the auger blades from the rubble was underway even before the new machine arrived at the tunnel site in the early hours of Sunday.

CM Dhami also called on the family of Pushkar Singh Airi, a worker from Tanakpur, earlier today, who has been trapped in the Silkyara tunnel for the last 15 days.

The Indian Air Force on Sunday flew in ‘critical DRDO equipment’ in an effort to accelerate the rescue of 41 workers, who have been trapped inside the collapsed portion of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi for over two weeks now, the IAF informed through an official release.

Meanwhile, a safety umbrella was thrown around the Silkyara tunnel, where 41 workers have been trapped for two weeks now, official sources said, adding that the umbrella ensures the protection of the rescuers.

Also, as part of efforts to relieve the stress and anxiety of the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has stepped in to provide them with a landline through which they can talk to their families.

Kundan, a BSNL official, said they are in the process of sending a small landline phone to the stranded workers through the pipeline inserted to bring them out.

“Through this, they will be able to talk directly to their families,” he said.

After a portion of the tunnel caved in on November 12, the debris falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel trapped 41 labourers inside the under-construction structure.