Drilling halted again as auger machine faces another technical glitch in Uttarkashi tunnel collapse

Drilling at the Slkyara tunnel to rescue 41 trapped labourers has once again halted after another technical glitch. Officials at the site said that the American auger machine faced a hurdle, apparently a metal object, after it resumed drilling on Friday. So far approximately 46 meters of drilling has been completed and around 5 meters are left. The multi-agency rescue effort began November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route collapsed, trapping workers who were still inside. Officials have also informed that if the auger machine does not work then they will decide on proceeding via manually



drilling in the remaining part. 

NDMA has advised the media not to predict rescue operation completeness timings as it creates confusion. The 41 labourers have been stuck at the collapsed tunnel site for the past 12 days as the multi-agency rescue operation continues with anxious emotions and hopes. 

Geophysicist, GPR survey team member B Chendhoor says, "We were called because something got stuck in the auger machine. GPR helps us know how far the metallic object is...GPR basically scans, therefore two people are needed one to run the GPR & the other to acquire the data..."