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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Kalaburagi: ‘Vartha Bharati’ Kalyana Karnataka edition launched
Kalaburagi: The Kalyana Karnataka edition of the Kannada daily Vartha Bharati was launched on Saturday at a grand programme held at Dr S M Pandit Rangamandira in Kalaburagi.
The new edition was formally launched by The Wire Editor-in-Chief Siddharth Varadarajan. The programme was inaugurated by Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Dr U T Khader.
Multilingual actor and social activist Prakash Raj, Minister for Small Industries and Public Enterprises Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Minister for Municipal Administration and Haj Rahim Khan, Vice-Chairperson of the State Policy and Planning Commission and Aland MLA B R Patil, Chairman of the State Waqf Board and Sajjada Nashin of the Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah Hazrat Syed Muhammad Ali Al Hussaini, and Kalaburagi South MLA Allamaprabhu Patil were present as chief guests.
Also present on the dais were Koraneswara Mahaswamiji of the Tontadarya Anubhava Mantapa, Aland; Bishop of Kalaburagi Rev Fr Robert Miranda; Pujya Bhante Varajyothi of Anandur; social activist K Neela; farmers’ leader Chamarasa Mali Patil; DSS State Convenor D G Sagar; and activist and singer Ambanna Arolikar as special guests.
Vartha Bharati Founder Director Yaseen Malpe delivered the introductory address. H.M. Afroz Assadi, President of Madhyama Communications Ltd presided over the programme. Editor-in-Chief Abdussalam Puthige was also present.
Progressive thinkers, social activists, farmers, workers, student organisation activists, and readers and viewers from various districts and taluks participated in the programme.
