Three days after the auger machine broke down inside the steel pipe in the Silkyara tunnel, the rescue workers managed to remove all debris of the auger machine from the steel pipes. It has also been decided to start manual drilling of the tunnel to push in 800 mm steel pipes which would serve as an escape passage for the workers.
"Don't be nervous, we're on it." That's what family members of Saba Ahmad, one of the 41 workers trapped at Sikyara tunnel for the last 15 days, keep telling whenever they communicate with him.
Uttarakhand tunnel rescue ops: With large metal pieces hindering machine drilling, the rescuers are now planning to drill through the remaining few meters using rat-hole mining. Here is what it is, and how it can help.