In the ongoing rescue mission at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi, rat-hole mining specialists have taken a unique approach to reach the 41 trapped workers. Facing challenges with a stuck auger machine on Friday, the rescue team shifted gears and initiated manual drilling through the debris on Monday. Simultaneously, vertical drilling from above the tunnel has made significant progress, reaching a depth of 36 meters out of the required 86 meters.
A team of 12 rat-hole mining experts is focused on horizontally drilling through the final 10- to 12-meter stretch of debris in the collapsed section. This alternative drilling method became necessary after the large auger machine encountered difficulties. Approximately 40% of the vertical drilling has been completed, with the goal of creating a one-meter-wide shaft to extract workers once it penetrates the top of the tunnel, ideally by Thursday.
As of Monday evening, the previously stuck auger has been successfully cut out piece by piece, and a steel pipe has been inserted further into the partially completed escape passage. Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Delhi, reported that the vertical drilling, initiated on Sunday, has already reached a depth of 36 meters.
The rescue team is working tirelessly to bring about a breakthrough soon. An eight-inch wide shaft, drilled from a nearby point, has reached approximately 75 meters down. This secondary probe, intended to serve as a supply line for the trapped workers, has encountered no significant geological obstacles, according to statements from NDMA member Syed Ata Hasnain and Silkyara officials.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed optimism, stating, “All engineers, experts, and others are working with all their strength. As of now, the pipe has gone 52 meters in. As soon as the pipe goes through, the process of bringing out the workers will begin. Everyone is fine.” The collective efforts of the rescue team raise hopes for a successful extraction of the trapped workers in the coming days.
