Efforts to rescue 40 workers trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand resumed on Thursday, as authorities proceeded with a plan to drill through rubble and insert a series of pipes through which the labourers could crawl out. The workers have been stuck under the rubble on a 2-km stretch since 5.30 a.m. on Sunday, and they are being supplied oxygen and food using narrow tubes.
A previous attempt to drill was called off as a smaller auger machine encountered falling debris, creating further obstructions and damaging the equipment. The new U.S.-made auger machine, flown to Uttarkashi from New Delhi by an Indian Air Force aircraft in three parts and assembled at the site, weighs 25 tonnes. Officials hoped it would be able to let them insert five metres of pipe each hour, but on Thursday, though, that pace could not be attained.
