00:00 Namaskar, welcome to another episode of Editorial.
00:06 Forty one of our men are trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand.
00:11 These men were trying to build us a road that will save one hour from point A to point B.
00:18 Let's talk about these 41 men.
00:20 Let's talk about their rescue operations.
00:23 Let us talk about what exactly and how exactly this collapse happened.
00:28 Let's get right into the show.
00:32 Like I said, 41 of our men are trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand.
00:38 Now let's understand what happened.
00:41 You see, the NHAI, that is the National Highway Authority of India, decided to drill a tunnel
00:48 between a place called Silkyara and Dandalgav.
00:53 Silkyara and Dandalgav.
00:54 Now this is 4.5 kilometer long tunnel.
00:57 Now Silkyara and Dandalgav are en route from Uttarkashi to Yamunotri.
01:02 So en route Uttarkashi to Yamunotri, this 4.5 kilometer tunnel would have helped the
01:09 passenger to save one hour of their travel time.
01:12 So it was a good project.
01:15 It would save one hour.
01:17 This contract was handed over to a Andhra based company called Navyuga Constructions
01:23 Company and another subcontractor of theirs called VSL Construction Company.
01:28 So these two companies were actually doing this drilling of 4.5 kilometers.
01:34 Now there is a Twitter handle who has actually done hand drawing but explained the situation
01:41 beautifully, explained the scene beautifully.
01:44 So I am going to use his hand drawing, courtesy to him, I am going to use his hand drawing
01:48 and I am going to try and explain this to you.
01:51 Now the way this drilling was happening is, there was one group of people drilling from
01:55 Dandalgav towards Silkyara and another group of people drilling from Silkyara to Dandalgav.
02:04 This is how it was.
02:05 Now mind you, the group drilling from Silkyara had drilled close to 2.3 kilometers and the
02:12 group drilling from Dandalgav to Silkyara had drilled 1.6 kilometers.
02:19 They were almost there, just 600 more meters to drill and the tunnel would have been complete.
02:27 This is when the calamity struck.
02:30 What happened was, the group that were drilling from Silkyara to Dandalgav, 400 meters behind
02:38 them the tunnel collapsed.
02:41 It was 60 meters of debris, 60 meters of debris.
02:46 The tunnel collapsed and trapped them.
02:48 But luckily these 41 had this 400 meters.
02:52 So 400 meters is where they are currently.
02:55 They survived in that 400 meters.
02:56 There was no debris in that 400 meters.
02:59 So 400 meters from the place they were drilling and like I said the debris was 60 meters and
03:06 there is 205 meters which they have already dug.
03:09 So this is how the situation is currently.
03:11 Like I said, 41 people are currently surviving for the last 9 days, surviving between this
03:17 400 meters.
03:21 The administration immediately what they tried to do is, what anybody would try to do, try
03:26 to clear the debris as fast as possible so that these people could be rescued out.
03:31 And in the process when they started cleaning the debris, the tunnel started collapsing
03:37 more.
03:38 The debris started, there were more debris that were falling.
03:41 So they realized that this is dangerous and it could only create more danger for the people
03:46 who are trapped in that 400 meters.
03:49 So they stopped clearing debris.
03:52 Then what they did is they drilled a hole, they drilled a hole and put a pipeline through
03:59 the hole so that they could reach these 41 trapped people in that 400 meter gap and send
04:06 food and water through that small pipe which they did successfully.
04:12 Now post which they thought, look if we could drill a small pipe through the debris, why
04:17 not drill a bigger one where we can get our people out.
04:20 They tried that but they could not, they were not successful in that because the larger
04:26 pipe could not be drilled.
04:28 It could not be drilled.
04:30 So that is where they were stuck.
04:32 Now this is the situation.
04:34 The situation is people inside are still stuck.
04:38 Food, water somehow are being managed.
04:42 Even I think walkie talkie are also being sent through that same pipe.
04:47 So somehow food, water like I told you have been managed but yet they are stuck.
04:53 One does not know what is the oxygen level, one does not know the state in which they
04:56 are, so on and so forth.
04:59 Now the administration has been working round the clock, no doubt about it.
05:04 The administration has been doing everything possible to ensure that they rescue these
05:08 41 people.
05:09 So at the moment they have five options.
05:12 I will try and discuss those five options with you.
05:16 The option number one they have is to call in Satlaj Jal Vidyut Nigam and ask them to
05:24 drill a vertical hole into the tunnel.
05:27 Okay, horizontal hole nahi hua, horizontal hole they couldn't.
05:31 So the idea is now to drill a vertical hole from top so that they can put another pipe
05:37 and they can rescue these people through the vertical hole.
05:40 So that's what they are asking Satlaj Jal Vidyut Nigam to do.
05:44 The Rail Vikas Nigam started a vertical pipeline.
05:48 Now mind you, I told you there is a horizontal pipeline that is going to give them food and
05:52 water.
05:53 So the Railway Vikas Nigam board is trying to do a vertical pipeline so that food and
05:58 water can be sent through the vertical pipeline.
06:01 So that's what the Railway Vikas Nigam is doing.
06:04 The third option they have is to call ONGC.
06:06 Now ONGC is an expert diggers, they are expert diggers.
06:10 So they are trying to call ONGC and start work on vertical digging.
06:16 Another group which is trying to drill, dig vertically and trying to get the people out.
06:20 The fourth is the National Highway Infrastructure Development body will continue to drill from
06:25 the main Silkera, the main Silkera side and try to get the debris out.
06:31 Like I told you, they will continue to drill and try to get the debris.
06:35 But this time around, they are accompanied by the army.
06:38 Army is building a canopy so that the drilling is safe, the people are safe and also ensure
06:46 that the tunnel may not further collapse.
06:49 So that too is happening.
06:51 That's option number four.
06:53 Option number five and the last option is the Theri Hydro Development Corporation will
06:58 work on micro tunneling, creating small tunnels so that through those tunnels, one of those
07:04 tunnels successfully going into that 400 meters where these 41 people are and trying to rescue
07:09 them.
07:10 So these are the five options that the administration is working on currently and that's what is
07:17 happening currently.
07:18 So that's one.
07:19 Now like I told you before, the worry is that it is not just about physical, how these 41
07:28 people would be affected physically.
07:30 It is also about how these 41 people will be affected mentally.
07:35 Imagine being trapped in a 400 meter space, both side debris, very little oxygen, very
07:42 little food.
07:44 So they are fearing not only physical trauma but also mental problems and that's what doctors
07:52 are fearing.
07:53 So that's what the current status is.
07:55 They have also gotten an expert called Arnold Dix.
07:58 Arnold Dix is an international tunneling expert.
08:02 So he is also being gotten so that we can use his expertise to rescue our people.
08:06 So that's what the government is trying to do.
08:10 Unfortunately, before this project started, there was a temple outside the tunnel area.
08:16 There was a temple and this temple was very revered.
08:19 A lot of locals were very upset when the construction company wanted to remove this temple because
08:24 that was obstructing their drilling.
08:27 Finally they removed the temple and like I told you, a lot of locals are very upset about
08:31 it.
08:32 They removed the temple and this tunnel collapsed.
08:35 Not that I am saying that there is any relation.
08:37 That's not the idea of telling you this story.
08:40 But the point is this temple was removed and the tunnel collapsed and today they have reconstructed
08:47 the temple back.
08:48 They have reconstructed the temple back and Arnold Dix, before starting his work, first
08:56 went into this temple, prayed to the higher power and then started his work.
09:01 You see, whatever it takes, whatever it takes, I hope those 41 people are rescued and I hope
09:09 they are brought out safe and reunited with their families.
09:14 I mean, I can understand what they may be going through.
09:17 Till I see you next time, that's tomorrow at 10pm.
09:21 Namaskar.
09:22 (Music)
09:26 (Music)
09:30 (Music)
09:34 (dramatic music)
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