Uttarakhand tunnel rescue
Date
  • 12–28 November 2023 (2023-11-12 – 2023-11-28)
  • (16 days)
Time05:30 IST
LocationSilkyara Bend–Barkot tunnel, Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, India
Coordinates30°45′26.9″N 78°15′48.8″E / 30.757472°N 78.263556°E / 30.757472; 78.263556
CauseTunnel collapse
OutcomeAll 41 trapped workers rescued

On 12 November 2023, a section of the Silkyara Bend–Barkot tunnel, planned to connect National Highway 134 in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, India, caved in while under construction. The collapse occurred at around 05:30 IST and trapped 41 workers inside the tunnel.[1][2]

Rescue operations were immediately launched, with a number of government agencies involved, including the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, Uttarakhand Police, engineers from the Indian Army Corps of Engineers, and Project Shivalik of the Border Roads Organisation.[3][4][5][6] Numerous private resources were utilized in the rescue efforts as well, including Australian tunnelling experts Arnold Dix and Chris Cooper.[7][8]

Though the initial attempts at a rescue were complicated because of the kinds of debris created in the collapse, the government brought in "rat-hole" miners who were able to use manual mining methods to get an access pipe to the trapped workers.[9] All 41 workers were rescued, and the collapse triggered a safety audit of other tunnels in the area.

Background

The Silkyara Bendno–Barkot tunnel was being constructed by contentious[10] Navayuga Engineering Construction Limited (NECL) under National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL)[11] as part of the Char Dham project, intended to connect important Hindu pilgrim sites in Uttarakhand, North India, with two-lane, all-weather paved roads.[12] The tunnel was located on the Yamunotri end of National Highway 134, which is planned to connect Dharasu on the south end to Yamunotri on the north end. The tunnel is planned to be 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) long[13] and will shorten the route by about 20 kilometres (12 mi).[14][15]

The initial tender for the development project did not anticipate the complexity of building tunnels in this specific geography.[12] Because the Himalayas are a very young mountain formation, and this particular section of the Himalayas has a mix of different rock types with different levels of strength, the construction has encountered multiple collapses and other faults.[12] Landslides have also been increasing in recent decades as construction increases, and this is expected to get more complicated as climate change increases the intensity of rain and glacial melt flooding events.[12]

Collapse

At approximately 5:30 12 November 2023, whilst under construction, a section of the Silkyara Bend–Barkot tunnel collapsed, trapping 41 construction workers inside, who were reprofiling 260m to 265m inside the tunnel from Silkyara portal.[16] The 60 meter-long blockage occurred from a point about 200 metres (660 ft) from the entrance of the tunnel inwards.[12][17] A team of geologists from the state government of Uttarakhand and educational institutions was sent to the location to determine the cause of the incident.[18] According to investigators, the tunnel had no escape shafts for evacuation in an emergency and was built along a line which crosses a geological fault.[19]

The tunnel's location is in proximity to the main central thrust of the Himalayas which is a major geological fault and is generally accepted to be a shear zone. The Border Roads Organisation said in a statement that the tunnel was being constructed in an extremely weak rock mass constituting meta-siltstone and phyllites.[20][21]

Rescue efforts

The state government launched Operation Zindagi ("life") to save the trapped workers.[22] On 16 November, another horizontal drilling machine with an auger bit (to install an 800mm escape pipe) was disassembled and flown from Delhi in three parts after the progress of a first machine was insufficiently speedy.[23][24] The rescue team had contacted the team that freed the students from the 2018 Tham Luang cave disaster in Thailand.[25]

Drilling through the debris in the tunnel was stopped on 17 November after cracking sounds were heard. Alternative access tunnels had been started parallel and adjacent to the existing main tunnel.[26] Three pipes were drilled during the operation, one providing oxygen, one providing passage for food, and a 15-centimetre-wide (6 in) pipe that was used to supply hot meals and allow the insertion of an endoscopic camera.[27] On 19 November, the Border Roads Organisation constructed a 1.15 kilometres (0.71 mi) road to a location on a hillock above the tunnel as plans for drilling a vertical shaft to enable a rescue were being made.[28]

Problems with the consistency of the rubble and with obstructions caused drilling delays on 22 and 23 November, with significant repairs required to the drilling machine and its mounting platform on 23 November; at this stage, it was believed that the operations had reached 75% of the way through the obstructing debris.[29] On 25 November, the rescue operation faced another setback as the tunnel drilling machine broke and became stuck inside the tunnel after successfully drilling 47 metres (154 ft), hampering the drilling's progress. The rescue team decided to use manual tools such as hammers and chisels to break the debris and reach the trapped workers. It was believed that the drilling had reached a point approximately 9 metres (30 ft) short of breaking through.[30][31] Meanwhile, Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who was part of the rescue operation, informed them that they needed to approach cautiously.[32]

On 27 November, alternate methods to gain access to the workers were intensified. Vertical drilling by Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam at the Silkyara end reached a depth of 32 metres (105 ft) and a third pipeline for the supply of necessities to the workers was also being laid by Rail Vikas Nigam. On the Barkot end of the tunnel, THDC India Limited had executed a successful drill up to 12 metres (39 ft) while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was preparing for vertical drilling.[33]

On 28 November, "rat-hole" miners in the rescue team broke through the remaining length of debris and pushed a pipe to the trapped workers manually.[9] The rescue team evacuated the workers one-by-one on stretchers, throughout the day, in a process that was expected to take several hours.[34]

Later at around 20:50 IST on the same day, it was confirmed by the Government of Uttarakhand that all 41 workers had been successfully rescued.[35] The chief minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami and Minister of State of Road Transport and Highways V. K. Singh were present at the site welcoming the rescued workers.[36]

The rescued workers were reported to be in good health, and they were taken to a medical facility in Chinyalisaur for initial assessment.[37] Forty-one ambulances were arranged for the individuals.

On 29 November, the 41 rescued workers were airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh aboard an Indian Air Force CH-47 Chinook helicopter for further assessment.[38] Following a medical examination, 40 of those workers were declared fit and cleared to return home as of 1 December.[39]

Investigation

The government of Uttarakhand has formed a six-member expert committee to investigate the cause of the tunnel collapse. The committee is being led by the director of the Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management Centre.[40]

On 22 November, the National Highways Authority of India said in a statement that it will conduct a safety audit of all the 29 tunnels currently under construction across the country along with a team of tunnelling experts from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.[41][42] However, preliminary findings of NHAI indicated the collapse may have been caused by a geological fault, known as a "shear zone".[43]

Reaction

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed relief for the successful rescue and wished the workers good health. They also appreciated the efforts of numerous agencies and personnel involved in the rescue operation.[44][45][46]

The Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Indian agencies for evacuating the 41 trapped workers. They also commended the efforts made by Dix for providing technical expertise.[47][48]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sebastian, Meryl (14 November 2023). "Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescuers race to save 41 workers trapped in India tunnel". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse Update: How Will The Trapped Workers Be Rescued?". NBC Right Now. India times. 14 November 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "How Border Roads Organisation Aided The Himalayan Rescue Op". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "Rescuers dig to reach 41 workers trapped in collapsed road tunnel in north India". AP News. 13 November 2023. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "40 Indian workers to spend third night trapped in collapsed tunnel as rescue slows". The Independent. 14 November 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel rescue ops: Indian Army's engineer regiment called in for manual drilling". DNA India. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operation: 'We can get through', says Mirco Tunnelling expert Chris Cooper ahead of manual drilling | TOI Original – Times of India Videos". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Meet Arnold Dix, tunnelling expert India thanks for Uttarkashi rescue". India Today. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Uttarakhand tunnel rescue live: Teams break through to trapped India workers". BBC News. 28 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Infrastructure company Navayuga is no stranger to controversy". Business Today (in Hindi). 5 December 2023. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: All eyes on Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering". www.msn.com. MSN. 20 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Uttarakhand tunnel: Why its collapse is a startling wake-up call". 27 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Opinion: Analysis: Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse – Makings Of A Disaster". NDTV.com. 17 November 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Mogul, Rhea; Iyer, Aishwarya; Suri, Manveena (13 November 2023). "Rescuers scramble to reach up to 40 workers trapped in Himalayan tunnel collapse". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  15. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (13 November 2023). "Rescue operation under way in India to save workers trapped after tunnel collapse". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "All coordinated efforts being made to evacuate stranded workforce at the earliest at Silkyara Tunnel collapse site in Uttarakhand". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Uttarakhand Tunnel Collapse Live Updates: Workers to be rescued through large-diameter steel pipes inserted through rubble". The Indian Express. 13 November 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  18. ↑ "Heavy machinery brought in to pull out workers from collapsed tunnel in India". CNA. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  19. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (28 November 2023). "All 41 Indian labourers rescued from collapsed tunnel". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  20. ↑ "Norms flouted, tectonic faultlines ignored: Lapses in Uttarkashi tunnel collapse". India Today. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue Mission: Here's Role Of Border Roads Organisation In 400-Hr Marathon Operation". TimesNow. 28 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  22. ↑ Irshad, Dil Bar (23 November 2023). "Operation Zindagi: State-led Rescue Operation in Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse". BNN Breaking. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  23. ↑ Clarance, Andrew; Mollan, Cherylann (16 November 2023). "Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: New drill machine brings hope to trapped Indian workers". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "What is rat-hole mining, being done to rescue trapped Uttarkashi tunnel workers". The Indian Express. 27 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  25. ↑ Mogul, Rhea (16 November 2023). "Indian authorities contact Thai cave rescue team as urgency increases to reach trapped men". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Rescuers to drill new tunnels for trapped India workers". BBC News. 20 November 2023. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "41 workers stuck in a tunnel in India for 10th day given hot meals as rescue operation shifts gear". AP News. 21 November 2023. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  28. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel crash: Border Roads Organisation's women heroes build lifeline for trapped workers". The Times of India. 20 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  29. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Machine repairs prolong ordeal for trapped Indians". www.bbc.com. 24 November 2023. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  30. ↑ "41 rescued workers emerge dazed and smiling after 17 days trapped in collapsed road tunnel in India". AP News. 28 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  31. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Rescuers to dig by hand to rescue trapped workers". BBC News. 25 November 2023. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  32. ↑ "Arnold Dix explains cautious rescue operations at Silkyara Tunnel Collapse site | TOI Original – Times of India Videos". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  33. ↑ "Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue: Rescuers cover over 32 m via vertical drilling; manual horizontal drilling also commences". BusinessLine. 27 November 2023. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  34. ↑ "Indian rescuers reach 41 men trapped in tunnel". The Guardian. 28 November 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  35. ↑ "Uttarakhand tunnel rescue live: Trapped workers rescued after 17 days". BBC News. 28 November 2023. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  36. ↑ Mishra, Ishita (28 November 2023). "Uttarkashi tunnel collapse | After 17-day ordeal, trapped workers rescued". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  37. ↑ "Rescued Workers In Makeshift Hospital Inside Tunnel: 10 Points". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  38. ↑ "Uttarakhand: Rescued workers flown to AIIMS Rishikesh in Chinook helicopter". The Statesman. 29 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  39. ↑ "Declared fit, rescued Uttarakhand workers head home". Hindustan Times. 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  40. ↑ "Uttarakhand forms expert committee to investigate Uttarkashi tunnel collapse". The Times of India. 14 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  41. ↑ "NHAI to Undertake Safety Audit of All Under Construction Tunnels" (PDF). National Highways Authority of India. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  42. ↑ "NHAI to undertake safety audits of all 29 under-construction tunnels in India". cnbctv18.com. 22 November 2023. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  43. ↑ Kumar, Manoj (24 November 2023). "Collapsed Indian tunnel had no safety exit, was built through geological fault - panel member". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  44. ↑ "Silkyara tunnel: President Murmu, PM Modi salute officials for 'most difficult rescue mission' | TOI Original – Times of India Videos". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  45. ↑ "Tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi". X (formerly Twitter). Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  46. ↑ "Tweet by President Droupadi Murmu". X (formerly Twitter). Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  47. ↑ "Tweet by HC Philip Green". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  48. ↑ "'Wonderful Achievement': Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hails rescue of 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand tunnel". The Times of India. 29 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
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