For the first time in the last 10 days, visuals of the workers trapped inside the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand's Silkyara surfaced on Tuesday morning.On Tuesday, the rescue workers attempted to make contact with the labourers through a walkie-talkie. The drilling machines, which will be used to dig a vertical shaft down into the collapsed tunnel, have reached the site.
After over 9 days, the workers were able to have their first hot meal of khichdi, which was sent to them packed in bottles. They were also sent packets of dry fruit and some fresh oranges. Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand High Court, comprising Acting Chief Justice Manoj Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit, on Monday ordered the Centre and the state government to reply within 48 hours regarding the measures taken to rescue the 41 workers stranded in the Silkyara tunnel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took stock of the situation on Monday when he called Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, ensuring all the support from the Centre to carry out the rescue operations. Meanwhile, the DRDO has also reached the crash site, launching mini-drones and robots to make sure that the operations are carried out smoothly.Uttarkashi's under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel collapsed on November 12, around 5:30am, trapping 41 workers in the rubble. The rescue operations are being carried out by NDRF, SDRF and other central and state bodies.