The rescuers in Uttarakhand’s Silkaya tunnel again encountered a roadblock and the drilling had to be stopped on Friday evening owing to some technical glitch. The auger machine was brought out to examine the latest technical snag as the experts assured that the drilling work would soon begin. The countdown was dragging on as the wait for the 41 construction workers has only been getting longer since Thursday. On Friday too, the workers could not be extracted even though the operation was at the very last stage. Since Thursday night, the rescuers have been busy fixing the auger machine as it hit a metallic object. It was fixed on Friday but there was another technical glitch.

Why US-made auger machine is developing so many glitches?

The auger machine is drilling through debris to insert pipes through which the trapped men will be rescued. Inside the debris, there are metal obstacles stopping the machine. The rescuers, on Thursday night, used gas cutters to remove a similar roadblock. Another obstacle came when it was found that one of the pipes got bent. The auger machine was brought out. Owing to all this pressure, the platform in which the auger machine was set developed a crack. Quick dry cement was used to mend the platform.

On Friday, again a metallic object came in the way of the auger machine.

Tunnel had no emergency exit, was built through a geological fault: Report

A Reuters report claimed the tunnel that collapsed did not have any emergency exit and was being built through a geographical fault. The collapse may have been caused by a geological fault, known as a “shear zone”, the report said.

Himalayan geology not predictable: Experts

On being asked as to why it took 12 days and still the operation is not complete, experts said Himalayan geology is not predictable and not much is known about it.