Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE Updates: Fifteen among 41 trapped workers rescued from Silkyara tunnel

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami meets the workers who have been rescued from inside the Silkyara tunnel

Ambulances leave from the Silkyara tunnel site as nine workers among the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12 have been successfully rescued.

Uttarakhand CM Dhami, Union minister V K Singh enter Silkyara tunnel as trapped workers come out one by one

Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper says, “Three workers have come out. All the members of the rescue team are very happy…”

With the rescue operations nearing a breakthrough at Silkyara tunnel, residents from nearby areas gathered at the site to witness the evacuation of 41 trapped workers from the tunnel. Some people were shouting slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Modi hai to Mumkin hai’ in acknowledgement of the multi-agency rescue operation going on for over a fortnight at the tunnel.

CM Pushkar Singh Dhami meets the workers who have been rescued from inside the Silkyara tunnel

Workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel since November 12 are being rescued. 41 workers were trapped in the tunnel since November 12. They will be taken to the Chinyalisaur Community Health Center.

“Seven workers have been taken out, and the rest of them will be rescued soon: Rescue team member

Pipe pushing from one end to other of rubble done. Preparations on to bring trapped workers out of tunnel: Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami.

The first worker among the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12, has been successfully rescued. The process of rescuing the remaining workers trapped inside Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12. The first worker among the 41 workers trapped inside Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12, has been successfully rescued.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been monitoring and taking regular updates on the well-being of two workers from the Kokrajhar district, who are among the 41 trapped inside an Uttarkashi tunnel, a portion of which collapsed on November 12, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) informed through an official release on Tuesday.

“Two persons from District Kokrajhar, Assam have been trapped in the Uttarakhand Tunnel. For the last 16 days, HCM Dr @himantabiswa has been constantly monitoring the well-being of the workers and the families in Assam,” read a post on the official handle of the Assam CMO on Tuesday.

“Principal Secretary to HCM through DC (Kokrajhar) have been in regular contact with the respective families and authorities in Uttarakhand. We are eagerly awaiting their safe and healthy return,” it added.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her government has rushed a team to Uttarkashi to help the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel.

In a post on social media platform X, the chief minister said the team led by Rajdeep Dutta, Liaison Officer, Office of Resident Commissioner, New Delhi, will help evacuation and safe return of the trapped workers in the tunnel at Silkyara, Uttarkashi to their homes in West Bengal.

National Disaster Management Authority Member, Lt General (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain on Tuesday said that the entire operation to evacuate workers from the Silkyara tunnel will take 3-4 hours adding that they are not in a “hurry.”

Addressing a press briefing in New Delhi, NDMA Member Syed Ata Hasnain said, “It is estimated that it will take 3-5 minutes to evacuate each of the 41 persons. The entire evacuation is expected to take 3-4 hours from the Silkyara tunnel after the breakthrough is achieved.”

He further said that three teams of NDRF will go inside the tunnel to organise the evacuation. SDRF will provide support and Paramedics will also go inside the tunnel at the time of evacuation.

“All safety precautions will be implemented. No premature announcements are to be made, it will be against all principles. We also have to take care of the safety and security of the people who are rescuing the workers…We are not in any hurry,” he added.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd.), Member, NDMA, says “…According to me, it will take the entire night to complete this operation…”

With the crucial work of laying pipes in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi completed, a temporary medical facility has been expanded inside the tunnel as part of rescue efforts to bring out 41 trapped workers.

The medical facility has been expanded for workers who will be evacuated. In case of any problem, eight beds have been arranged by the Health Department. A team of doctors and experts has been deployed.

All arrangements have been made to provide requisite medical attention to labourers after they are evacuated.

A Chinook helicopter has been kept ready at the Chinyalisaur airstrip to airlift the workers after their rescue from the Silkyara tunnel.

Rescue workers on Tuesday were close to breaking through the 60-metre stretch of rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand in which 41 workers are trapped for the last 16 days, officials said.

At the disaster site, state government’s information department chief Bansi Dhar Tiwari told reporters a little after 1.30 pm that the drilling was “over”.

On Silkyara tunnel rescue mission, Vishal Chauhan, Member, NHAI, says,” NHAI has again started the work of audit of all tunnels. We are working on this with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and one other agency.”

Preparations for airlift underway at Chinyalisaur helipad in case of a medical emergency, following the rescue of 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel.

“There are 41 people inside (tunnel) and outside there are several people who are involved in the rescue work, safety and security these people are equally important. We are not in any hurry,” says Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, NDMA member, on Uttarkashi tunnel rescue.

NDMA also said 58 meters of drilling done, about 2 meters more needs to be dug

We are near a breakthrough, not yet there: NDMA says on rescue of workers from Silkyara tunnel. Rescue workers on Tuesday drilled through the 60-metre stretch of rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in which 41 workers are trapped for the last 16 days, officials said.

“The food (for the trapped workers) is being sent along with the ambulance. Aloo gobhi, roti, dal and rice is in the menu today,” said Vikas Rana, Assistant HR at Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, the company constructing the tunnel.

Garlands brought to Silkyara tunnel rescue site in anticipation of early rescue of 41 trapped workers

As Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation enters final stage, AIIMS Rishikesh Assistant Professor Dr Narinder Kumar says, “The rescued workers will be brought here only if medical treatment requirements cannot be met in Uttarkashi District hospital. At AIIMS Rishikesh, there are 20 beds in Trauma Centre and a few ICU beds. If the workers are brought here, they can be given good medical care. A team of doctors has been constituted to be sent to Uttarkashi, if ordered by the state government.”

The 41 workers who are awaiting rescue will be brought to Community Health Center Chinyalisaur for medical treatment after they walk out of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi

Preparations complete at Community Health Center Chinyalisaur for the treatment of 41 workers who will be brought here after they are rescued and brought out of Silkyara tunnel.

Rat hole mining is a method of extracting coal from narrow, horizontal seams, prevalent in Meghalaya. The term “rat hole” refers to the narrow pits dug into the ground, typically just large enough for one person to descend and extract coal.

Once the pits are dug, miners descend using ropes or bamboo ladders to reach the coal seams. The coal is then manually extracted using primitive tools such as pickaxes, shovels, and baskets.

Rescue crews successfully breached the 60-meter stretch of debris in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel on Tuesday in a big relief for the 41 workers who had been trapped for 16 days.

A senior official confirmed the completion of drilling.

The tunnel had been obstructed since November 12 when a section collapsed, trapping the workers inside.

Officials said that the evacuation process, involving pulling the workers out individually on wheeled stretchers through a 90 cm wide pipe, is expected to take a couple of hours. Before rescue workers can commence the evacuation, the pipe was pushed through, and debris is being cleared to allow them to crawl through and begin the retrieval operation.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, equipped with ropes, lights, and stretchers, were seen at the entrance of the Silkyara tunnel, ready to reach those trapped inside.

Pipe-laying completed, workers to be evacuated soon, says Uttarakhand CM Dhami.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami in a post on X said that the last pipe has been inserted following completion of drilling work and the workers are expected to be out soon.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Preparations in place to welcome 41 trapped workers after 17 days in tunnel. Several ambulances enter the Silkyara tunnel along with NDRF, SDRF and several other agencies.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Ambulance moves out of Silkyara tunnel, as rescue work to evacuate 41 workers approaches end. Pipe inserted up to 55.3 metres, last pipe left to be pushed in.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Ambulance moves inside Silkyara tunnel, as rescue work to evacuate 41 workers approaches end.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Drilling at Silkyara site comes to an end, rescue of 41 trapped workers in process.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Managing Director of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), Mahmood Ahmad said, “Vertical drilling is being done by SJVNL; drilling up to 44 metres out of the total 86 metres is complete…THDC executed 7th blast today. So, we gained another 1.5 metres. Work is ongoing, we have not stopped any of our various options.”

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Managing Director of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), Mahmood Ahmad said, “We are continuing our work on all options. As far as drilling through the debris is concerned, we have drilled 55.3 metres by manual excavation. Let’s hope to get some good news by late evening.” 

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “PM collects details on the workers every day. Today, he sought information about the relatives of the workers – arrangements for them, accommodation for them, their condition and the condition of people stuck inside. With the help of technology, pipe has been inserted up to 53 metres. I think two more pipes need to be inserted or maybe there will be a breakthrough even before that. He (PM) was given all the details.”

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: International Tunneling Expert, Arnold Dix joins a priest at Slikyara siteand offers prayers for safe evacuation of 41trapped workers.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE : Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper said, “We are still mining. We have got a couple of more metres to go…We are expecting to see some results by 5 pm. 2-3 metres are left.”

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam hit out at the Congress party on Tuesday over its post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand.

Dushyant Kumar called the post ‘unfortunate’ and said, “At a time when the whole country is praying for the lives of those 41 trapped labourers, despite being responsible Congress is engaged in banter or insulting others. It is very unfortunate.”

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami says, “A crisis that is before us right now at Silkyara, Uttarkashi – 41 workers that were involved in tunnel construction are stuck inside. They are safe and they are being provided with all help – from oxygen to food and water. Work is going on rapidly. All our scientists, experts, Govt of India and State Government and other agencies are making all efforts. PM is also taking a report on them every day…We received an update just now that the pipe has gone in 53 metres.”

Vertical drilling on the hill has been stopped for the time being. Manual drilling is going on successfully inside the tunnel and to ensure that there is no hindrance in the drilling work below, vertical drilling has been stopped. Meanwhile, the process of changing machines in vertical drilling is being completed.

A concrete block is carried into the tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after a tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand

With just five metres left to achieve a breakthrough in digging through the rubble of the Silkyara tunnel, preparations got underway on Tuesday to rush the trapped workers to a hospital for immediate medical care following their rescue.

A separate ward comprising 41 oxygen-supported beds has been readied at the community health centre in Chinyalisaur, about 30 km from Silkyara, for the workers.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Silkyara tunnel site this morning and conducted on-site inspection of the ongoing rescue operation.

Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said, “I just feel good. The drilling on top of the mountain is coming along perfectly, in the tunnel, it’s coming along very well. I have never said ‘I feel good’ before. I might have heard they (trapped workers) are playing cricket.”