Day 12: Machine damage stalls rescue operations at Uttarkashi tunnel

Delays caused by unforeseen obstacles and a fault in the auger machine stalled for over 24 hours the operations to rescue the 41 labourers trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara-Barkot tunnel for 12 days.

“No progress was made in moving the pipe into the tunnel between Thursday and Friday. The encumbrance encountered earlier took the entire night,” Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said on Friday evening.

The operations were to resume after removing the girder found on Thursday, but one of the pipes was found to have bent and putting pressure on the auger machine. The pipe had to be cut, which took the entire night, Hasnain added.