Silkyara tunnel rescue ops: Army’s manual drilling begins, but no deadline

After the removal of major obstacles in the Plan A of the Silkyara tunnel rescue, the Army has started manual drilling at the site where the auger drilling machine was building a tunnel before it broke down and failed on Saturday night.

Forty-one workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel await their rescue as the six-pronged operation enters its 15th day.

A statement by the road transport and highways ministry said the auger was fully pulled out at 3 am on Monday night.