Uttarakhand tunnel “12 Meters Left” In Race To Save 41 Workers Trapped

Uttarakhand tunnel collapse

Mahmood Ahmed, a senior official with Uttarakhand’s Road and Transport Department, said the auger (or earth drilling machine) that was switched on at 12.45 am has drilled 18 meters so far.

Anurag Jain, the secretary of Road Transport and Highways, has expressed that the currently employed American-made Auger drilling machine represents the most viable option at present. He anticipates that the workers could be successfully evacuated within the next 2.5 days. The auger machine encountered a challenging boulder on Friday afternoon, leading to vibrations that prompted a temporary halt in the operation due to safety considerations

Both the state and the central governments have promised to do all they can to bring the 41 workers back up safely, but they have refused to give a definitive timeline for their rescue, noting these are “subject to change due to technical glitches, challenging terrain, and unforeseen emergencies”.