Updates on the Uttarkashi Tunnel: Expert Projects Confidence for a Safe Rescue; Workers Can Now Speak With Families Through Installed Landlines

International Tunneling Expert Arnold Dix stated on Saturday that he does not know when the rescue operation will be successful in the midst of the ongoing efforts to free the trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. He added that the most crucial thing in this situation is that the laborers and rescuers return home safely. In an interview with news agency ANI, he predicted that the 41 men will return home safely within a month. Dix continued, saying that we shouldn’t hurry things and focus on what matters most: the workers’ safe return. He also gave off the impression that the mission would be successful. In the meanwhile, a landline facility has been installed at the tunnel to enable workers to maintain family relationships. The BSNL has placed the phone facility 200 meters from the location of the collapsed tunnel.

The Principal Updates Are As follows:

– Congressman Binoy Viswam of the Communist Party of India sent Prime Minister Modi a letter about the collapse, adding that any development in the Himalayan ecology should only come about after a thorough study of the area.

– The news agency PTI reports that in an effort to reduce employee tension, the authorities have provided board games and cell phones.

“The purpose of the mobile phones is to allow the employees to play video games.” They’ve also been given snakes and ladders and board games like ludo, an official added. According to a second officer, “These games will help them bust their stress,” as reported by PTI.

– Lt General (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said that the rescue effort has become more technically intricate.

– According to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, an auger machine that became lodged in the tunnel rubble is going to be removed using a plasma cutter that is being sent in from Hyderabad.

– He called the situation “extremely difficult and challenging” and mentioned how the equipment that was drilling through the rubble and putting pipes so that the personnel who were trapped could climb out became stopped at a certain point.

Drilling activities had to be halted on Friday night when the heavy-duty US-made auger machine became stuck at a specific point because a metal item became lodged inside of it.

– On November 12, a section of the tunnel collapsed, trapping 41 laborers inside the 60-meter section on the Silkyara side of the tunnel due to falling debris. Within a 2-kilometer constructed area, the laborers are imprisoned.