Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: 6-inch-wide pipe reaches trapped labourers; food, meds to be easily supplied
PTC News Desk: A six-inch pipe has arrived at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district, allowing nutritious food and medicines to be delivered to the 41 workers who have been trapped for more than a week after parts of the under-construction structure collapsed due to a landslide.
Anshu Manish Khulko, Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) stated that the 'alternative 6-inch lifeline' reached the labourers after drilling 53 metres.
He stated that when the trapped labourers learned of the breakthrough, there was a joyful atmosphere among them.
"This is a breakthrough for us. Apart from being an alternative lifeline, this will give us the facility that now we will be able to send both oxygen and food. And food which has nutritional value can be sent to the trapped labourers," Anshu Manish Khulko further said.
After the six-inch pipe reached the under-construction tunnel, he said, "a relative of Deepak Kumar, who is one of the trapped labourers, talked with them and he told me that there is an atmosphere of happiness among the workers inside the tunnel."
On November 12, it was reported that 41 labourers were trapped after a collapse occurred in an under-construction tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot due to a muck falling in the 60-meter stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel.
The NHIDCL Director stated that the rescuers will now go all out to evacuate the workers.
"Previously, there was concern about what would happen if the first lifeline was severed. But now that we've established an alternate lifeline, we'll go all in," Khulko said.
- ANI
