Nodal Officer for the Silkyara rescue operation and Secretary to the Uttarakhand government, Neeraj Khairwal, during a press briefing on Tuesday, informed that if there are no more hurdles, the rescuers are anticipating an early evacuation of the trapped labourers.
Braving the cold weather, women participants from across the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand gathered outside the Army Medical Corps ground in the cantonment area since early morning for the physical tests.
With operations to safely evacuate 41 trapped labourers out of the Silkyara tunnel underway, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the ongoing rescue and relief efforts from Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami via call on Tuesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam hit out at the Congress party on Tuesday over its post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand.
The efforts to rescue 41 trapped labourers are progressing on multiple fronts with both vertical and manual drilling works taking off at an almost similar pace from atop the hill and inside the tunnel accordingly on Tuesday.
The workers involved in rat-hole mining inside the Silkyara tunnel to rescue 41 trapped labourers asserted confidence that the drilling work will be completed in 24 hours and the trapped labourers will be brought out soon as the rescue efforts entered 17th day on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the government and all the agencies together are leaving no stone unturned to evacuate the workers trapped in the Uttarakhand tunnel for the last two weeks and that we have to pray for them to get out safely and as soon as possible.
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Managing Director Mahmood Ahmad on Monday informed that the vertical drilling of 36 meters has been completed inside the Uttarkashi's Silkayara tunnel where 41 workers remain trapped.
It is noteworthy that, at present, the rescue operation is going on in Uttarkashi to bring out the labourers trapped in the tunnel for the last 15 days.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Member Vishal Chauhan on Monday informed that the work of the manual drilling inside the Uttarkashi Tunnel can start anytime soon in the upcoming hours adding that a team of six members have been formed in this regard.