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PremiumUttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: At least 40 workers are trapped inside the partially collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. The tunnel partially collapsed on 12 November. A US-made auger machine had been deployed to drill and push in pipes to save the developed snag, thereby halting the rescue process.
Around 2.45 pm on Friday, during the positioning of the fifth pipe, a loud cracking sound was heard in the tunnel after which the rescue operation was suspended, a statement issued by the NHIDCL late on Friday night said.
The 4531-metre Silkyara Tunnel is part of the Chardham Project of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and will link the Gangotri and Yamunotri axis under the Radi pass area.
Catch updates of the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse rescue operation with Livemint
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the authorities concerned, including the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), on a petition claiming lack of some protection works on the Gangotri National Highway in Uttarkashi district of Uttrakhand.
According to the petition, NHIDCL failed to take action for the construction of a landslide protection gallery, slope protection work and river protection work.
The 4531-metre Silkyara Tunnel is part of the Chardham Project of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and will link the Gangotri and Yamunotri axis under the Radi pass area.
Another high-performance drilling machine airlifted from Indore in Madhya Pradesh arrived in Silkyara on Saturday where its three parts will be assembled before it is deployed for drilling, officials on the spot said. Meanwhile, the number of workers who have been trapped inside the tunnel since Sunday has been revised to 41.
