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India rescuers dig by hand to free 41 tunnel workers trapped for weeks | Construction News<\/p>\n
\u2018Rat miners\u2019 to drill through a narrow pipe to pull out workers trapped in the Himalayan tunnel after high-powered machines fail.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rescuers in India are preparing to dig by hand to reach 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 16 days, a rescue operation hit by repeated setbacks.<\/p>\n Military engineers plan to use a so-called \u201crat-hole mining\u201d technique, digging by hand to clear the rocks and rubble over the remaining 9 metres (29 feet), with temperatures plummeting in the remote mountain location in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.<\/p>\n The men, low-wage workers from India\u2019s poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5km (3 miles) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on November 12.<\/p>\n The men have been getting food, water, light, oxygen and medicines through a pipe but efforts to dig a tunnel have run into a series of snags with machines.<\/p>\n Attempts to drill a tunnel horizontally through the debris trapping the men have been plagued by damage to machinery, and rescuers will resort to drilling by hand, after clearing away the broken equipment inside the narrow evacuation pipe.<\/p>\n The drilling from inside the pipe, which is 900mm (3 feet) wide, will be done by a team of six \u201crat miners\u201d from central India, who officials described as \u201cskilled workers\u201d.<\/p>\n Rat mining is a primitive, hazardous and controversial method used in India mostly to remove coal deposits through narrow passages. The name comes from its resemblance to rats burrowing through narrow holes.<\/p>\n \u201cThree of us will go inside the tunnel, one will do the drilling the other will collect muck and the third one will push the muck through the trolley,\u201d Rakesh Rajput, one of the miners, told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been doing it for more than 10 years and there\u2019s enough space for us. The 41 men are also labourers and we all want to bring them out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Government and private agencies involved in the rescue have been pursuing other options. On Sunday, they opened another route to the men, aiming to drill a shaft straight down from the top of the mountain above.<\/p>\n By Monday afternoon, they had drilled 31 metres (102 feet) of the 86 metres (282 feet), officials said, adding that the focus remains on the horizontal route.<\/p>\n \u201cSkilled labourers will do the manual drilling,\u201d said Harpal Singh, a former head of state-run Border Roads Organisation. \u201cThis is a sure-shot way of making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n Bad weather could complicate the rescue. Thunderstorms, hail and lower temperatures with a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit) are forecast in the mountains.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are trained in working in every situation so that\u2019s not a worry for us,\u201d said Mahmood Ahmad, managing director of the NHIDCL company, which is building the tunnel.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s principal secretary, or chief of staff, PK Mishra visited the site and spoke to the trapped men through a communication link. He told them that \u201ceveryone is making efforts to bring all of you out as early as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n The tunnel is part of the Char Dham Highway, one of Modi\u2019s most ambitious projects, aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through 890km (553 miles) of roads.<\/p>\n Authorities have not said what caused the cave-in which trapped the men as they were nearing the end of their night shift but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>
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