Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation latest update: SJVN Limited, a CPSU firm under the Union Ministry of Power has started vertical drilling work on a hill a top the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi to create an escape passage for the 41 construction workers trapped under the rubble since November 12.

“As a second option, vertical drilling work was started from the hill above the tunnel,” SJVN was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, the Army has been pressed in to carry out the manual drilling of the escape passage after the auger machine broke inside the 900 mm pipe being pushed through the rubble to extract the trapped workers.

#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | SJVN begins vertical drilling work on the top of the tunnel. As a second option, vertical drilling work was started from the hill above the tunnel: SJVN pic.twitter.com/szv5xxxQSn

— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2023

Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had informed that the American auger machine failed to go beyond 46.6 meters and it’s drilling tool broke inside the pipe.

He said that the remaining 13.1 meters of the rubble will be drilled manually. The manual drilling of the escape passage, according to experts, could be time-consuming and the operation could take several days or even weeks.

The process will involve workers entering the already bored rescue passage and take turns to drill manually.

This ain’t as easy as it sounds given the limited space the workers will get to drill. Arnold Dix, the international tunneling expert assisting with the rescue operation said that the trapped workers will be extracted by Christmas, which is a month away.

“The drilling, augering has stopped. It’s too much for the auger. It’s not going to do anything more. The mountain has again resisted the auger, so we are rethinking our approach,” he said, adding the workers remained safe.

Earlier on Saturday, heavy vertical drilling equipment was brought to Silkyara tunnel site. It was moved up a one-and-a half-kilometre hill road constructed by the Border Road Organisation (BRO) in the past few days.