The 41 Indian workers who have been stuck since November 12 in a road tunnel under construction in Silkyara, in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, are waiting to see the light of day again. To save them , 31 meters of a vertical tunnel have already been dug which should allow everyone to return home. The attempt is new, after the plan to reach the men by digging horizontally along the path of the tunnel blocked by debris had to be interrupted, when there were just 16 meters left to the point where the men were .
The drill is creating a hole into which a steel tube of 80-90 centimeters in diameter will be inserted through which the workers will be taken out . If there are no problems, the machines that are drilling vertically should take just over 100 hours to drill the 86 meters that separate from the point of the tunnel where the workers are located. What raises fears for the health of the workers is the very particular conformation of the surrounding land, in which areas of very hard rock alternate with extremely crumbly sections. A potential obstacle to rescue efforts could also be the weather conditions, with rain and snow on the way.
The authorities, in constant contact with the workers through a mini-pipeline that allows them to send cooked food and drinks, inform that the men, despite 17 days of waiting, are well and are in good psychological condition. The country is waiting, with bated breath, for good news: prayer ceremonies are taking place daily across India. Yesterday, on the banks of the Ganges river, in the sacred city of Haridwar, 21,000 votive lamps were lit.
(Unioneonline/vf)
