Indian authorities announced on Monday their initiation of manual excavation in the final phase of rescuing 41 construction workers trapped for over two weeks in a collapsed Indian tunnel in the northern part of the country. The decision to manually dig followed a previous attempt to drill vertically, an alternative plan to the initial horizontal digging, which had commenced the day before. The newly replaced drilling machine managed to excavate approximately 65 feet, according to officials.
Devendra Patwal, a disaster management official present at the accident site, expressed readiness for potential challenges but hoped they wouldn’t encounter significant resistance from the mountain. Patwal acknowledged uncertainty regarding the substances the drilling machine might encounter, whether loose soil or rocks, but reassured that they were prepared for various scenarios.
The ongoing rescue efforts have involved horizontal excavation and the insertion of pipes, creating a passageway up to around 150 feet. The initial drilling machine faced frequent breakdowns due to the challenging mountainous terrain, ultimately becoming irreparably damaged on Friday and necessitating replacement. To facilitate manual digging, rescuers worked overnight to extract parts of the damaged drilling machine stuck inside the pipes.
The 41 workers became trapped on November 12 when a landslide in Uttarakhand state caused a section of the 2.8-mile tunnel they were constructing to collapse, approximately 650 feet from the entrance.
The vertical drilling, initiated on Sunday, requires excavating about 347 feet, nearly double the approximately 196 feet needed for horizontal digging from the front. Rescuers are aware of potential risks similar to those encountered earlier, including damage to the drilling equipment and the possibility of debris falling due to high-intensity vibrations.
As the rescue operation entered its 16th day, uncertainty loomed over its duration. What initially was expected to be a brief rescue mission has extended into weeks, with officials cautious about providing a definitive timeline. While some officials were hopeful for completion last week, international expert Arnold Dix expressed confidence in reuniting the workers with their families by Christmas, indicating preparedness for a potentially prolonged operation.
Most of the trapped workers are migrant laborers from various parts of the country, and their families have gathered at the site for updates and in anticipation of the workers’ return. The workers have been supplied with hot meals through a six-inch pipe, an improvement from days of surviving on dry food sent through a narrower pipe. Oxygen is also being provided through a separate pipe, and a team of over a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, monitors their health.
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The tunnel, part of the Chardham all-weather road project connecting Hindu pilgrimage sites, has faced criticism from experts who argue that such initiatives exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas, where towns are built on landslide debris. The Chardham project is a flagship initiative of the federal government, catering to the increasing number of pilgrims and tourists visiting Uttarakhand’s Hindu temples.