In Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi a portion under-construction tunnel from

Silkyara end collapsed on November 12 trapping 41 workers.

Rescue efforts have been ongoing since with the multiple agency-led
rescue operation encountering multiple obstacles that halted the operation
a number of times.

The initial plan was to rescue workers through horizontal drilling with the
expertise of international tunnelling experts. However, the operation had to
be stopped on November 24 when Auger drill blades broke. Plasma and
magna rod cutter machines were transported to the site to take out stuck
auger blades.

The process of removing parts of the auger was completed on Monday

morning as informed by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami
today. The CM further stated, "The auger machine has been taken out
completely...Drilling and pushing work will start and we hope that the work
is completed at the earliest," reported ANI.

Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper on Monday said, “We have 9 meters
of hand tunnelling to do. It really depends on how the ground behaves.
Could be quickly, could be a bit longer. If we hit some lattice girder. Then
we've got to cut out the lattice girder, but we're confident we can get
through. The Army is just supervising (the operation). 30 metres of (vertical
drilling) has been done."

Former DG of Border Roads Organisation, Harpal Singh today said,

“Frames of 800 mm diameter pipes have been prepared. We will move
ahead by half a metre to one metre gradually. If all goes well and no
obstacles are encountered a 10-metre stretch can be covered in 24-36
hours."