Editor's Pick | Drill machine hits hurdle, delay in tunnel rescue

The ongoing operations to rescue workers stuck in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi of Uttarakhand were halted for hours on Thursday due to a structural element of the tunnel, an iron lattice that had to be removed manually. The drilling machine travelled through only two metres of debris by 6 pm on Thursday when it hit the lattice, hampering efforts to reach the 41 workers trapped due to the collapse of the tunnel on November 12. Uttarakhand Secretary Neeraj Khairwal said that the NHIDCL (National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.) which is building the tunnel, had drilled horizontally through 45 metres of debris from the end of the tunnel by Wednesday evening, completing about 70% of the distance to the workers when the obstacle was hit. He shared that the pushing of the pipe stopped as the drilling machine encountered the lattice girder rib. Rescue team members Pradeep Yadav and Balwinder crawled inside the pipe and cut off pieces of metal stuck at the mouth of the pipe using gas cutters. This was completed by 2 am on Thursday. The machine was given some cooling time before pushing of the ninth pipe started at 1 pm on Thursday, officials said. It had bored through another 1.8 meters when a minor vibration was noted, so authorities decided to withdraw the auger machine slightly to reassess the force to be applied. At the time of filing this report, drilling was to restart and fabrication of a canopy for the drilling machine was underway. “We are working with utmost caution and managed to push the pipe up to 45 plus 1.8 metres,” Mr. Khairwal said. National Disaster Management Authority member Lt. General Syed Ata Hasnain told journalists in Delhi that “if no hindrance comes in the way and the auger machine continues to function at its speed of four to five metres per hour, then I can say that maybe tomorrow during the day, you can receive the good news.” He added that it would take another four to five hours to actually rescue the trapped workers after the completion of the horizontal drilling. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accompanied by Union Minister of State General (retd) V.K. Singh, arrived at the site on Thursday noon. Follow along with live updates about the tunnel rescue efforts here. The Hindu’s Editorials Deceptive signals: On India’s goods exports numbers End the secrecy: On the actions of Indian agencies abroad The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz The Survey of India is a government department concerned with which of the following? Stamps Maps Historical monuments Books and catalogues To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 24 November 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Drill machine hits hurdle, delay in tunnel rescue The ongoing operations to rescue workers stuck in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi of Uttarakhand [were halted for hours on Thursday]( due to a structural element of the tunnel, an iron lattice that had to be removed manually. The drilling machine travelled through only two metres of debris by 6 pm on Thursday when it hit the lattice, hampering efforts to reach the 41 workers trapped due to the collapse of the tunnel on November 12.  Uttarakhand Secretary Neeraj Khairwal said that the NHIDCL (National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.) which is building the tunnel, had drilled horizontally through 45 metres of debris from the end of the tunnel by Wednesday evening, completing about 70% of the distance to the workers when the obstacle was hit. He shared that the pushing of the pipe stopped as the drilling machine encountered the lattice girder rib. Rescue team members Pradeep Yadav and Balwinder crawled inside the pipe and cut off pieces of metal stuck at the mouth of the pipe using gas cutters. This was completed by 2 am on Thursday. The machine was given some cooling time before pushing of the ninth pipe started at 1 pm on Thursday, officials said. It had bored through another 1.8 meters when a minor vibration was noted, so authorities decided to withdraw the auger machine slightly to reassess the force to be applied.  At the time of filing this report, drilling was to restart and fabrication of a canopy for the drilling machine was underway. “We are working with utmost caution and managed to push the pipe up to 45 plus 1.8 metres,” Mr. Khairwal said.  National Disaster Management Authority member Lt. General Syed Ata Hasnain told journalists in Delhi that “if no hindrance comes in the way and the auger machine continues to function at its speed of four to five metres per hour, then I can say that maybe tomorrow during the day, you can receive the good news.” He added that it would take another four to five hours to actually rescue the trapped workers after the completion of the horizontal drilling. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accompanied by Union Minister of State General (retd) V.K. Singh, arrived at the site on Thursday noon. Follow along with [live updates about the tunnel rescue efforts here.]( The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Deceptive signals: On India’s goods exports numbers]( [Arrow][End the secrecy: On the actions of Indian agencies abroad]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz The Survey of India is a government department concerned with which of the following? - Stamps - Maps - Historical monuments - Books and catalogues To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here.]( [Sign up for free]( Today’s Best Reads [[Studying sea ice amid penguins and the Southern Lights] Studying sea ice amid penguins and the Southern Lights]( [[MGNREGS audit crosses 50% local bodies in just six States] MGNREGS audit crosses 50% local bodies in just six States]( [[On ‘review bombing’ and more |Should online movie reviews be curtailed?] On ‘review bombing’ and more |Should online movie reviews be curtailed?]( [[Governor holds no veto power over Bills, says Supreme Court] Governor holds no veto power over Bills, says Supreme Court]( Copyright @ 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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