HomeIndia NewsUttarakhand floods: Drilling operation launched at Tapovan tunnel to rescue trapped workers

Uttarakhand floods: Drilling operation launched at Tapovan tunnel to rescue trapped workers

Till Wednesday, about 120 metres of slush from the mouth of the tunnel was cleared and those trapped inside were stated to be located somewhere at the depth of 180 metres, where the tunnel takes a slip or a turn.

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By PTI February 11, 2021, 11:35:56 AM IST (Published)

Uttarakhand floods: Drilling operation launched at Tapovan tunnel to rescue trapped workers
Rescuers launched a drilling operation on Thursday at the Tapovan tunnel, where an estimated 30-35 people have been trapped since a flash flood battered various villages and hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, claiming 34 lives, while about 170 people are still missing. The focal point of the multi-agency rescue operation for the last over four days remains the more-than-1.5-km-long ”head-race tunnel” of the total 2.5 km of the tubular structure, as every passing minute is mounting concerns over the safety of those trapped inside.


”A drilling operation has been started by the rescue teams at 2 am to peep into the slush-flushing tunnel that is about 12-13 metres below,” Vivek Kumar Pandey, the spokesperson for the lead rescue agency, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), said in Delhi. As the continuous flow of slush and silt remains a major obstacle between the rescuers and those trapped inside the tunnel, a boring operation by a huge machine is being undertaken to see if this problem can be addressed in a different way and the teams can go further deep inside, he said.

Till Wednesday, about 120 metres of slush from the mouth of the tunnel was cleared and those trapped inside were stated to be located somewhere at the depth of 180 metres, where the tunnel takes a slip or a turn.

”More slush and water coming from inside the tunnel is making the way ahead difficult,” Pandey had said on Wednesday. ITBP chief S S Deswal had told.
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