- By Radha Basnet
- Mon, 27 Nov 2023 07:05 PM (IST)
- Source:PTI
Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: After suffering several setbacks with an augur drill machine, vertical drilling is underway in the ongoing operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside the under-construction Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand, which entered its 16 days on Monday.
The officials who were involved in the rescue operation opted for vertical drilling and managed to drill progress over a distance of 80 metres down the ground to rescue the trapped workers.
How Trapped Workers Stay Motivated Amid Delay In Rescue Ops
Amid the delay in the ongoing rescue operation, family members of the 41 trapped workers who have been finding survival difficult for the last 15 days, keep telling them that they are whenever they communicate with them.
"Don't be nervous, we're on it". That's what family members of Saba Ahmad, one of the 41 workers trapped at Sikyara tunnel for the last 15 days, keep saying whenever they communicate with him.
A microphone has been given to the trapped workers through a pipe, enabling them to communicate with those outside. Doctors and psychiatrists counselled Saba Ahmad to stay motivated while the rescue operation was delayed because of difficulties with the drilling, his brother Naiiyar Ahmad told PTI.
A team of doctors, stationed at the rescue operation site, talk to the trapped workers twice a day -- from 9 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm.
Additionally, the families of the stranded workers are free to contact them whenever they like. The administration has set up a camp for the families of the workers outside the tunnel.
Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse
It has been 15 days since the 41 workers were trapped inside the tunnel after a portion of it collapsed on November 12. Although the rescue effort was launched shortly after the disaster, drilling difficulties caused a delay in the work. A team of five doctors, including two psychiatrists, have been stationed at the rescue site around the clock.
(With Inputs From Agencies)