As the rescue teams at Silkyara-Barkot collapsed tunnel prepare to drill last 12 meters of escape passage, sources said drilling was stopped for more than 12 hours before it resumed today at 6 am. Workers could be reached only by late evening or in the night.

Officials present at the collapsed tunnel site informed that it was stopped within an hour of the last evening media update shared by the rescue officials around 4.30 pm. “No matter what people say, drilling had to be halted Wednesday evening around 5-6 pm. Auger machine was stuck at 45 meters due to obstruction caused by a thick iron garter or rod. It took nearly 10 hours to cut the irom onstacle and resume rescue work at around 6 am on Thursday morning” informed an official deployed in rescue operation, unwilling to be named.

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According to this official, although drilling was restored in the morning, escape passage work is unlikely to be over soon. The official informed that workers trapped inside the tunnel could be reached by late evening or in the night that too if the drilling remains unobstructed.

In fact escape passage drilling could not move forward beyond 45 meters till Thursday morning even as Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was told that evacuation of the trapped 41 workers could happen anytime in the night. Following this Dhami flew to the rescue operation site late evening to see the operation humself.

Union minister of state General VK Singh who arrived at the site today morning and Dhami are camping at the tunnel collapsed site to welcome stranded workforce and oversee the claimed last phase of the rescue operation at Silkyara village. VK Singh arrived in the mornimg with a team of seven technicians to monitor ongoing rescue operation and evacuation of the workers.

A 40-bed makeshift hospital has been readied at the Chinayalisaur airstrip where workers will be taken to immediately after evacuation. Health department has also kept 40 ambulances, along with a fleet of medical team ready to carry evacuated workers to the helipad. “We hope to reach and evacuate the workers trapped inside the tunnel soon. As the makeshift hospital, ambulance services, and medical teams have been readied, AIIMS Rishikesh has also been alerted to be prepared in case of any emergency need” said Dhami.