The plan comes after week after tunnel collapse to rescue the 41 workers trapped inside the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarkashi since last Sunday.

There have been several setbacks, authorities in the way of rescuing the trapped workers, raising concerns of their well-being.?

The plan involves drilling operations from three sides, IE reported.

“There will be a vertical drilling operation taking place from the top of the hill under which the workers are trapped. The efforts to drill horizontally through the debris blocking the tunnel at the Silkyara side will continue, and an operation to drill a small tunnel from the Barkot side will also begin, according to the plans,” the ?report said.

Earlier, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari visited the spot on Sunday, along with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, and reviewed the rescue operations.?

Gadkari said that if the machines brought in for the drilling work properly, the workers would be rescued in two to three days, the report mentioned.

“In the meantime, those trapped are safe and in good spirits”, he said, the report mentioned.

“Under the five-point plan, RVNL has started work on a six-inch-wide vertical pipeline from this platform into the place where the workers are trapped. This pipe will work as another means by which supplies can be passed to them,” it said.

“So far, the workers had been provided food items such as channa, murmure, dry fruits and medicines through a four-inch compressor pipeline. The NHIDCL is also creating another six-inch pipeline, which can provide the workers with more types of food, like bread, vegetables, rice, and other heavier meals. The vertical supply pipeline being built by RVNL will be in addition to these two horizontal ones,” it said.

It added: “Under the second part of the plan, SJVNL will drill a vertical tunnel from the top of the hill to rescue the trapped labourers. Accordingly, equipment has been mobilised from Gujarat and Odisha with the help of the Railways. ONGC, which has expertise in deep drilling, has also taken part in the initial work of drilling the vertical tunnel.”

“The third part of the plan involves horizontally drilling 483 metres to reach the workers by creating a ‘micro’ tunnel from the Barkot side. This will be undertaken by THDCL. Heavy machinery has already been mobilised and the work is expected to start by Sunday night,” it said.

“The fourth part is the strengthening of the existing tunnel, and after working on safety arrangements, NHIDCL will continue to drill from the Silkyara end under the fifth part of the plan,” it said.
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