Relief and rescue work is going on in Uttarakhand Tunnel.
After the accident that occurred during the construction of Talan in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, the team of experts is raising many questions. Questions are being raised as to why the excavation was started without concrete blocking? Along with this, questions have also been raised on the standards and quality of construction of the tunnel. On the other hand, the lives of 41 laborers are still at stake in the tunnel. The family members are upset and the relief work is still stalled.
Advocate Shrikant Sharma, who came to study the incident and also removed the hume pipe inside the tunnel, said that legal action should be taken against the construction for negligence in the construction of the tunnel. Soon he will file a PIL in the Supreme Court in this matter.
He said that whenever a tunnel is built, complete concrete blocking is done after safe trenching. In such a situation, if pressure comes from above the hill, then concrete blocking works to support the tunnel, but this was not done here. The work is being done leaving the middle part without lining and garter rib.
He said that before this the hume pipes that were in the tunnel were also removed. With the help of the same hume pipe, the trapped workers could have come out, but no response is being received regarding their removal.
Expert Chris Cooper reached the accident site
Micro tunneling expert Chris Cooper reached the Silkyara Tunnel incident site on Saturday to monitor the rescue operation. Chris Cooper is a Chartered Engineer with an experienced track record of delivery of major international major civil engineering infrastructure, metro tunnels, large caverns, dams, railways and mining projects.
Cooper, who is also a consultant on the Rishikesh Karnaprayag Rail Project, has reached the site to oversee the rescue operation of 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel for six days. The work of rescuing 41 people trapped in the Silkyara tunnel has been halted since November 17 after a technical fault in the machine.
The lives of 41 laborers are in danger
Drilling work underway to reach 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel was halted on Saturday as rescue teams penetrated 25 meters of debris, a top official said. Workers have been stranded for six days till Saturday after a part of the under-construction Silkyara Tunnel collapsed on November 12.
The auger machine stopped working after hitting a rock on Friday. However, the machine started working again in the afternoon. An additional auger machine has been airlifted from Indore to resume the rescue operation.
The backup machine was expected to reach the site by the morning of 18 November. The new machine can drill at a speed of 5 meters per hour, although considering the current challenges, it can work at standard speed.
Also read: Workers did not leave even after 80 hours, colleagues lost patience, clashed with rescue team
