Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Landslide, technical issues in drilling machine affect rescue operations
Uttarkashi (U'khand) (PTI): Operations to rescue 40 labourers trapped in a tunnel have been hampered after a landslide at the site and technical problems with a drilling machine being used to create an escape passage, officials said.
The labourers are safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water are being constantly supplied to them through pipes, they said.
A portion of the under-construction tunnel, which is part of the ambitious Chardham All Weather Road project, collapsed on Sunday. The 30-metre collapsed section is 270 metres from the mouth of the tunnel from the Silkyara side.
On Tuesday night, rubble from the landslide fell on the collapsed part of the tunnel, hampering operations as well as injuring two rescue workers. They are being treated at a makeshift hospital, the officials said.
A new platform is being built inside the tunnel for another drilling machine, which is on the way, an official at the police control room set up near the site, Sanjit Uniyal, said on Wednesday.
Some more equipment is being brought from Delhi by air to aid rescue efforts, according to officials of the state and national disaster response forces. They added that the drilling machine at the site is facing some technical problems.
The Tuesday landslide hampered efforts to insert steel pipes through the tunnel's debris to create the passage.
Talks have been held with the Indian Air Force and soon bigger machines will be sent to the spot from Delhi so that the stranded workers can be taken out of the tunnel at the earliest, Uttarakhand's Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told PTI in Dehradun.
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Vijay unable to prove majority, not invited for CM oath ceremony: Sources
Chennai: Actor-politician Vijay has reportedly not been invited to take oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after failing to demonstrate support from the required number of MLAs, sources in Raj Bhavan said.
According to media reports that quoted sources in the office of R.N. Ravi Arlekar, Vijay could not prove the backing of 118 legislators, the majority mark in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Despite last-minute efforts to secure support from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazagam (AMMK), and an IUML legislator, Vijay reportedly managed support from only 116 MLAs, falling short by two members.
Sources said Vijay failed to submit letters of support from the VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Later, the IUML issued a statement clarifying that it was not part of the TVK-led alliance.
Meanwhile, AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran is also said to have informed the Governor that his party would support the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) instead.
Earlier in the evening, Vijay had met Governor Arlekar and staked claim to form the government, stating that he enjoyed the support of 118 MLAs.
