Uttarkashi Tunnel Crash: Rescue teams to focus on five new plans to rescue 41 men trapped inside
Uttarakhand.
The rescue team is considering alternatives including a perpendicular tunnel with two proposed routes and insertion of a pipe six inches (15 cm) wide, reported Reuters.
Being inside for nearly 130 hours, 41 men are now grappling with health issues, including constipation, headaches and growing anxiety and trauma induced by fear and claustrophobia, reported ToI.
Five Plan strategy
The rescue team is now focusing on five new plans for the workers.
The five plans include drilling from one end to the other on both Silkyara and Barkot sides, vertical drilling from top of the tunnel and perpendicular drilling, former Advisor to PM and now OSD in Uttarakhand government Bhaskar Khulbe told reporters in Silkyara on Saturday.
Khulbe said the concerted efforts could lead to good results in four-five days or even earlier.
Under the rescue operation, different agencies are assigned the task of working on one alternative option each. The BRO and the construction wing of the Indian Army have also been assisting in the rescue operation.
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) MD Mahmood Ahmed has been made in-charge for coordination with all the central agencies and has been stationed at Silkyara, the sources said. The Uttarakhand government has made Neeraj Khairwal, a secretary-level officer, as the nodal officer for coordination.
All the agencies concerned have posted senior officers at the site and the government has given a clear direction that whatever is possible be done for the rescue operation, said sources to news agency PTI.
41 workers trapped
On Saturday, it was discovered that one worker was missed from the head count earlier. The number of workers trapped inside the
