Silkyara tunnel: Plasma cutter flown in from Hyderabad

Family members of Naresh Bediya at their residence in Ranji

A plasma cutter was flown in from Hyderabad on Sunday to cut and remove parts of the auger machine stuck in the rubble inside the Silkyara tunnel where 41 labourers have been stranded for the last 14 days.

A complete disengagement of the machine is necessary for the officials to resume the rescue work which involves manual pushing of pipes through rubble to prepare an escape passage. A part of a drill machine has also been sent atop the hill, above the tunnel, for vertical drilling.

A view near the entrance of the Silkyara Tunnel during a rescue operation of 41 workers. Pics/PTI

A unit of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army, arrived at the site on Sunday to assist in the rescue operations.

International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said the progress so far is fantastic. The plasma cutter has increased the speed of cutting parts of the auger stuck in the rubble, he said. Work is underway to take the auger completely out of the passage where it is stuck. Conducting of the tests to know the consolidation and composition of the rocks ahead of the start of vertical drilling from top of the tunnel from Silkyara side have also begun, an official said.

Blades of the auger machine drilling through the rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel had got stuck in the debris Friday night.

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