More than 650 hectares of Uttarakhand land in grip of forest fires
Though no loss of life has been reported so far, officials say with the rise in mercury level the blaze is going out of control.
Rescue teams in Uttarakhand are racing to extract the 40 workers who are trapped inside a tunnel that collapsed on Sunday. The workers were building the tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway when a part of it collapsed due to a landslide.
Authorities have said that they have established contact with he men and they are being provided food and oxygen through water pipe line. All of them are believed to be safe and unharmed.
Fortunately, the men are trapped in a buffer zone and have some 400 meter area to walk and breath. The rescue teams have so far removed some 21 meters of debris but they will still have to dig through 19 metres more.
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They are trying to create a passage to reach the trapped workers and the total distance to reach them is 40 meters.
The rescue teams involved in the mission has said that a water pipeline laid for supplying water to the tunnel for construction work is now being used for supplying oxygen, food and water to the workers.
The workers have been trapped for the last 50 hours and the rescue teams are now planning to push a 900 mm diameter for the trapped men to squeeze through it.
According to officials, a platform is being prepared for an auger machine to drill horizontally and push the pipes through the debris and evacuate the workers. A new drill has also been brought to fast track the process.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday reviewed the status of relief and rescue operations with senior officials at his residence. Earlier, he also visited the spot and spoke to the family members of trapped workers.
“I am closely monitoring the situation. I visited the spot, and I also spoke to the family members of the people who were trapped inside. Food, water and oxygen are being supplied to the people who are trapped inside. PM Modi is also closely monitoring the situation,” the CM said.
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