Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: Plan-B underway as auger machine fails to drill through rubble

The operations to rescue 40 men trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi suffered a setback as the auger machine meant to drill through the debris and install steel pipes proved insufficient in doing so. Officials told The Indian Express that the machine that was brought from Dehradun to place the 900 mm mild steel pipes for the men to crawl out failed to drill through the rubble.

“Under plan 2, we are first installing a 125 mm pipe for air, food, camera and communication. That pipe is already 12 metres in. Also, state-of-the-art, American-made horizontal dry drilling equipment with auger is on its way (from Delhi) on two Hercules C-130 planes.