Option of manual drilling being considered at Silkyara tunnel
Uttarkashi (PTI): With the auger machine encountering hurdles in the rubble time and again, rescuers are considering switching over to manual drilling at the Silkyara tunnel where 41 labourers have been trapped for the past 13 days, officials said on Saturday.
Drilling at the collapsed portion of the tunnel to rescue the trapped men was halted again on Friday night, 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.
With one hurdle or the other not letting the auger machine drill further and lay steel pipes through the rubble to prepare an escape route for the trapped workers, the option of manual drilling is being considered, an official said.
However, he said, manual drilling takes longer time.
The multi-agency rescue effort began November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed following a landslide, trapping workers inside.
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BJP will form govt in Bengal with thumping majority: Nabin
Mirzapur (UP) (PTI): BJP president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday voiced confidence that his party will form the government in West Bengal with a "thumping majority".
Polling is underway for 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, covering key districts, including Kolkata, Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas.
The high-stakes contest is being seen as decisive for the ruling TMC's bid for a fourth consecutive term and the BJP's push to form its first government in the state. The first phase held on April 23 recorded a high voter turnout of over 93 per cent, reflecting intense electoral engagement.
Speaking to reporters in Mirzapur, Nabin said, "The BJP will form the government in Bengal. We are winning the elections with a massive majority."
Earlier in the day, the BJP chief visited the Vindhyavasini temple and offered prayers. The rituals were conducted by his priest Acharya Agastya Kumar Dwivedi.
On his first visit to the district after assuming office, Nabin was welcomed by party workers at several places. At the temple, he was received by city MLA Ratnakar Mishra and District Magistrate Pawan Kumar Gangwar, who felicitated him with a traditional 'angvastram'.
After offering prayers for about 10 minutes amid Vedic chants, Nabin held a meeting at a hotel with local MLAs, including Mishra, Majhwan MLA Suchismita Maurya and Madihan MLA Ramashankar Patel.
Patel said Nabin emphasised strengthening the organisation and asked public representatives to focus on serving people in their respective constituencies.
Several party leaders, including district president Lal Bahadur Saroj, district vice-president Gaurav Umar, municipal chairperson Shyam Sundar Kesari, women workers and senior officials, were present on the occasion.
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place by the district administration for the visit, with multiple officers of circle officer rank deployed, officials said.
