Excavators Begin To Save Workers Trapped In Indian Tunnel
Excavators started drilling with heavy machinery on Tuesday in order to fix a wide steel pipe that will help to pull out almost 40 Indian workers who are trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan highway tunnel. This incident occurred two days ago in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand.
The 4.5-km (3-mile) tunnel, which is being built on a national highway that is part of a popular Hindu pilgrimage route, caved in around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Disaster management official, Devendra Singh Patwal, stated, “We have been supplying food, water and oxygen to the trapped laborers and the officials are in continuous touch with all of them.”
Excavators have been removing debris for two days to carve out a path to reach the workers and had been awaiting delivery of a wide steel pipe which will be pushed into an opening of excavated debris to safely pull out the workers.
Patwal revealed that it was uncertain how long it would take to pull out the workers.
Geologists from the state government and educational institutions are on-site to determine the cause of the accident.
The region is known for being prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
A report by a Supreme Court-appointed expert committee had cautioned the government to properly assess the impacts of construction which commenced in 2018 and is supposed to be completed by May 2024.
The Char Dham pilgrimage route aims to connect four important Hindu pilgrimage sites of North India through 889 km (551 miles) of two-lane road being built at a cost of $1.5 billion. However, the project has faced criticism from environmental experts.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday told ANI news agency that the state would examine work at all tunnels under construction to ensure they are completed safely and authorities are better prepared to face possible emergencies.
(Editing by YP Rajesh, Stephen Coates and Shri Navaratnam)