Uttarakhand Tunnel Crash News Live Updates: Drilling begins to create escape passage for trapped workers

The experts included in the committee constituted by the Uttarakhand government under the chairmanship of Director, Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Center to study and investigate the causes of landslide in Silkyara Tunnel have inspected the site and started the investigation. The team is surveying the tunnel and the hill above it.he committee, formed by the Uttarakhand government and chaired by the Director of the Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Center, has initiated its investigation into the causes of the landslide in the Silkyara Tunnel. The experts in the team have conducted inspections at the site and have commenced their survey of both the tunnel and the hill above it.

The collapse of a section of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand has reignited concerns among environmentalists and the scientific community about the devastating impact of extensive construction in a state where half the area is prone to landslides. An expert panel appointed by the Supreme Court and led by seasoned environmentalist Ravi Chopra, alongside Himalayan scientists and experts, raised alarm about these issues during their survey of the project area a couple of years ago.

Rescue personnel from multiple national and state agencies are racing against time to evacuate 40 workers, who were trapped when an under-construction tunnel on the Centre's ambitious Char Dham all-weather highway project collapsed early on Sunday. More than 150 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) have been working almost round the clock to reach the trapped workers.

Large excavators and heavy machines have been pressed into service to remove the debris from the portion of the tunnel which caved-in. According to the officials, debris up to 20 metres has been removed so far to open the tunnel and prepare an escape passage for the workers, and around 35 metres are still to be covered. Oxygen, food and water have been sent to the trapped workers through a pipe.

The total length of the tunnel, which is meant to connect Silkyara to Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi district, is 4.5km (4531m). The collapse happened about 270m from the entrance of the Silkyara side. The double-lane tunnel is pegged as one of the longest tunnels under the Char Dham all-weather road project and aims to reduce the journey from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri Dham by 26 kilometres. From the Silkyara side, 2.3km of tunnel has been constructed, while 1.6km of tunneling work has been completed from the Barkot end. Approximately, a 400m stretch of the tunnel is yet to be constructed.