Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: The rescue teams are continuously making efforts to evacuate the 41 workers, who have all been trapped at the Silkyara tunnel for a straight 12th day. According to an official, the rescue operation has now entered its final stage and they will reach the stranded workers by Thursday morning.Notably, these 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.#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Rescue operation underway at the Silkyara tunnel to rescue the 41 trapped workers pic.twitter.com/kJMIu1fuuG— ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2023Rescue ops in its final stage in Uttarkashi tunnel collapseBriefing about the latest rescue update, rescue officer Harpal Singh, who is also the Project Head of the under-construction Zoji-la Tunnel project in Kashmir, said “We have inserted pipes 44 meters via horizontal drilling. However, we have found some steel rods in the debris. The machine couldnt cut those rods. Therefore, NDRF personnel will cut those rods following which we will use the machine again.”#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Harpal Singh, project head of Zojila Tunnel and one of the rescue team members says, ...pipe has covered 44 metres and it has to go 12 metres more. The only obstacle right now is that a few steel pieces have come into the… pic.twitter.com/AcBbhYpmFL— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2023I have full confidence that steel pieces can be cut within an hour and in the next 5 hours two pipes can be pushed in and the rescue operation could start, he added.He hoped the rescue teams would be able to reach the trapped workers by 8:30 am.#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Harpal Singh, one of the rescue team members says, ...NDRF is quite confident, they will cut the steal and machine (gas cutter) will work...I feel that approximately by 8 am in the morning, the entire rescue operation will be… pic.twitter.com/xQEToB7KBq— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2023On Wednesday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) entered the tunnel, an official statement issued by the Uttarakhand Chief Ministers Office said.Ambulance deployed inside tunnel for emergencyAn ambulance is also deployed inside the tunnel and a team of doctors is also put on stand-by for health check-ups of the workers, it said.#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Medical equipment reach the collapse site where a temporary hospital has been set up pic.twitter.com/zorj94lHwu— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2023Silkyara rescue operation is now in the final stages. The NDRF team is deployed to rescue the workers. An ambulance is deployed inside the tunnel and a team of doctors is deployed in the CHC located at Chinyalisaur for health check-ups of the workers. Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami himself is also present in Uttarkashi, the official statement said.
