Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Achieved our first breakthrough, say officials as 6-inch wide pipe reaches workers

Rescuers on Monday pushed through a six-inch-wide pipeline through the rubble of a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand, a breakthrough that will help them supply larger quantities of food and other essentials to 41 workers trapped for eight days.

Earlier, a four-inch tube was being used to supply food like dry fruit and medicines and oxygen into the section of the tunnel beyond the rubble. The new pipeline will allow food items like roti and sabji to be sent to the workers.
NHIDCL Director Anshu Manish Kalkho called it the "first breakthrough" at the site.

" We have achieved our first breakthrough, for which we had been trying for the last nine days and was our first priority. A 6-inch pipe has been installed, and 53 metres to the other side of the rubble, they (trapped workers) can hear us through it. We will now provide them with food and medical supplies through that pipe,"Kalkho said.

A portion of the under-construction tunnel in Silkyara village in Uttarkashi district, part of the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project, collapsed due to a landslide on November 12, trapping 41 workers.