At 7.40 pm on Wednesday, draped in their distinctive orange gear, personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team entered the Uttarkashi tunnel where 41 men have been trapped since last Sunday. Equipped with stretchers and rescue tools, the NDRF team appeared to be making preparations for the moment the workers would finally be pulled out. Outside, a few family members huddled together, their anticipation palpable. “Aaj woh aa jayenga toh hamari Diwali ho jaayegi (it’ll be Diwali for us if he comes out today)," said Indrajeet, the younger brother of one of the trapped men. The scenes capped a day of significant progress in the rescue operation that has seen its share of ups and downs. On Wednesday, rescuers managed to drill through roughly 45 metres of the debris behind which the men are trapped, inching ever so close to their ultimate goal. Roughly 50-55 metres of debris is blocking the tunnel. However, in the evening, the rescue plan faced another hurdle. Around 6 pm, the pipes that are being inserted into the debris — the men will be pulled out through these — couldn’t be pushed further as there was a metal girder blocking the way. The NDRF team was called to enter the rescue pipes and cut the metal obstructions manually, delaying the operation by a few hours. Earlier, officials had speculated the men could come out by late Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Harpal Singh, the Zoji La tunnel project head, said two more pipes need to be inserted. Once the metal girders are cut, rescuers will resume the drilling. The workers are expected to be out by 8 am. Once the drilling is complete, a team of 21 NDRF officials, led by a commandant, has been assigned the task of getting the workers out individually. Additionally, a group of doctors has been dispatched to the area. According to NDRF sources, the plan involves using low-height stretchers equipped with wheels to reach the trapped workers. NDRF personnel, equipped with oxygen kits, will crawl through to the other side, carrying stretchers, ropes, and oxygen for the workers. "Using ropes, we'll secure a stretcher from both ends, extracting the workers one by one," said an official. Another NDRF team will remain on the other side until every worker has been evacuated, while the evacuees, accompanied by doctors, will be transported in separate ambulances stationed inside. These ambulances will ferry the workers to a hospital set up at Chinyalisaur, located approximately 30 km from the tunnel site. Rescuers had faced the most significant hurdle on Friday when a heavy-duty machine drilling into the rubble ran into trouble around the 22-metre mark, and the process had to be halted. After repairs were made, drilling resumed on Tuesday, and by Wednesday evening, a pipe had been inserted into the debris up to 45 metres. While rescuers had started working on five operations simultaneously to rescue the men, the one on the Silkyara end remained the most promising. Earlier in the day, Mahmood Ahmad, the Managing Director of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), said that after 900 mm pipes got stuck and stopped moving further, rescuers decided to push 800 mm pipes through the wider ones using the “telescopic method”. Uttarakhand Government Secretary Neeraj Khairwal said that after visual communication was established on Tuesday, officials have also been successful in establishing an audio communication channel after sending a microphone and speaker to the other end of a six-inch supply pipe. "On this side, we are using headphones to talk to them. Using this channel, our doctors talked to them and asked about their well-being. Some of them complained of constipation and medicines were provided," he said. Basic items like undergarments, towels, toothbrushes and other essentials were provided to the workers. A full meal, including daal filled in plastic bottles, along with mixed vegetables, roti and rice wrapped in aluminium foil, were also sent. Five agencies — ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL — had been assigned specific responsibilities in the rescue operation, working collaboratively “with occasional task adjustments for operational efficiency”, officials said.
