Drilling at Silkyara tunnel halted, operation to evacuate trapped workers hit again
Uttarkashi, Nov 24: Drilling at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel to rescue 41 men trapped inside for 12 days was halted again on Friday, in yet another setback to the multi-agency effort.
An official said the auger drilling machine faced a hurdle, apparently a metal object, a little after drilling resumed Friday, a day after officials had put the operation on hold following technical problems.
Those problems were set right earlier in the day and the 25-tonne machine was restarted in the evening. According to one official, the boring continued for about an hour before the drill bit hit the metal girder.
The multi-agency rescue effort began November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed, trapping workers who were still inside.
As the machine drills, six-metre sections of a steel pipe are welded together and pushed into the narrow passage. Once this steel chute crosses the stretch of debris of the collapsed portion, the trapped workers would be pulled out on wheeled stretchers.
Rescue workers suggested in the evening that the drill bit was now being pulled out through the passage already bored by the machine.
The two hurdles in two days have come as a blow to anxious relatives camping at the site for the past several days.
Before the brief period of drilling on Friday, 46.8 metres of the 800 mm wide steel pipe had been pushed into the drilled passage - out of the collapsed stretch estimated to be about 60 metres long. The six-inch wide tube for supplying food and other essential items to the workers had travelled 57 metres.
The latest setback comes just hours after officials expressed hope that the operation could be over soon, provided no further obstacles came in the way.
A ground penetrating radar used for the first time in the operation had indicated that the next stretch of 5.4 metres did not have any major metal hurdle.
In the morning, former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office Bhaskar Khulbe told reporter that the issues that stalled the drilling on Thursday had been set right.
"We have 12-14 metres more to go. And I hope if all goes well we might conclude the operation by Friday evening," he had predicted.
Over Thursday night, officials said, the auger machine's platform was strengthened with quick-settling cement.
Workers went over 45 metres inside the passage to cut off the damaged 1.2 metre front end of the steel pipe - an operation in confined space that took several hours. That portion of the pipe had bent after hitting a hurdle. A damaged portion of the auger's blade was also repaired.
But later in the day, the fresh snag forced the operation to be paused again. Garhwal range IG KS Nagnyal told PTI that arrangements are in place to take the rescued workers to medical centres under police escort through a "green corridor".
Road Transport and Highways Minister V K Singh, who has been camping in Uttarkashi since Thursday, visited the Silkyara site during the day to take stock of the operation.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has been staying at nearby Matli and visited the disaster site again on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked to Dhami once again for updates.
The NDRF conducted a mock drill at the site. An NDRF jawan went into the escape passage, pushing a wheeled stretcher tied to a rope and was then pulled out. He said there was enough room inside the pipe and he had no difficulty breathing during the exercise.
Forty-one ambulances are stationed outside the tunnel to rush workers after their evacuation to Chinyalisaur community health centre, where a separate ward has been set up with 41 oxygen-supported beds for them.
Similar arrangements have also been made at the Uttarkashi district hospital. Trauma and ICU beds have also been readied for them at AIIMS, Rishikesh where they could also be airlifted if required.
The trapped workers are being sent food, medicines and other essentials through the six-inch wide pipe.
A communication system has been set up, using the pipe, and the workers' relatives have spoken to them. An endoscopic camera was also pushed through this pipe, allowing rescue workers to see the condition inside.
The workers are in a built-up two-kilometre stretch of the tunnel. Alternative rescue plans include drilling from above the tunnel, an option that could take up to 45 days.
Some work, including mobilisation of machinery, has already been done over the past few days on these alternatives approaches.
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Bomb threats to Delhi Secretariat, Assembly, Red Fort and two schools declared hoax
New Delhi (PTI): Multiple institutions, including the Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Assembly, Red Fort and two schools in the national capital, received bomb threats via email on Monday, which were later declared hoax, officials said.
An official of the Delhi Fire Services confirmed that Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Army Public School in Dhaula Kuan and Air Force Bal Bharti School on Lodhi Road received bomb threats.
The threat emails were also received on the official ID of the Delhi Assembly and its Speaker at 8 am, reportedly from the Khalistan National Army, sources said.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta asked the Delhi Police for immediate appropriate action on the bomb threat received on his personal email id.
"The Speaker, Delhi Legislative Assembly has desired that immediate necessary appropriate action be taken in the matter and an investigation be carried out to trace the source of these emails keeping in view the serious warnings about the bomb blast threats to Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat and Speaker in person," the Speaker office in a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner said.
The threatening emails mention “Delhi banega Khalistan” (Delhi will become Khalistan) and read that there will be blasts in Delhi Army School, Red Fort and Metros in the next three days.
The emails claimed a blast at the Delhi Army school at 1.11 pm, Vidhan Sabha at 3.11 pm and Red Fort at 9.11 am today, they said.
After receiving the threatening emails, the administrations of both schools informed authorities in the morning, a senior police officer said.
As a precautionary measure, the premises were evacuated, and thorough search operations were carried out, the officer said.
"After nothing suspicious was found, it was declared a hoax," the officer added.
An Aam Aadmi Party leader and former MLA, Dilip K Pandey, in a post on X said, "Today, I received a bomb threat on my personal email ID, and since the matter was related to public safety, I have immediately forwarded the email to Delhi Police."
Upon receiving the information, teams from the Delhi Police, the bomb disposal squad, dog squad and Delhi Fire Services rushed to the spots and cordoned off the areas around the schools and other locations.
"We are verifying the source of the emails and further investigation is underway," the officer added.
The cyber cell has been roped in to trace the origin of the emails and identify the sender. Search operations are continuing.
