India tunnel rescue: delay hits effort to free 41 workers as digging enters final stretch

The rescue operation to free 41 construction workers trapped for nearly two weeks in a collapsed tunnel in northern India has run into trouble in the final stretch of digging. According to officials, some blades of the drilling machine were damaged by a metal object lodged in the debris. Special cutters have been arranged from New Delhi and Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand state, and efforts were being made to remove the metal obstruction to resume drilling, said Kirti Panwar, a state government spokesperson. Ambulances were on standby on Thursday morning as rescuers dug through the final metres of debris separating them from the workers. Engineers have been digging for days to drive a steel pipe through 57 metres (187 feet) of earth, concrete and rubble that has divided the men from freedom since a portion of the under-construction tunnel caved in on 12 November, in the state of Uttarakhand. After days of painfully slow progress, engineers with a powerful drilling machine made a sudden rapid advance on Wednesday, before being slowed, with just 12 metres to go, when metal rods blocked the route. Senior rescue team member Harpal Singh had suggested a Thursday morning breakthrough was possible, although the government also warned that any timelines were “subject to change due to technical glitches, the challenging Himalayan terrain, and unforeseen emergencies”. Relatives who have gathered at the site said they were finally feeling optimistic, after days of anxiety and concern over the rescue and wellbeing of the workers. Devashish, whose brother-in-law is among those stuck, said he spoke to him on Monday. “Sonu repeatedly told me not to worry now and that we would meet soon,” he said. “The day they will come out of the tunnel, it will be the biggest, happiest day for us,” said Chanchal Singh Bisht, 35, whose 24-year-old cousin Pushkar Singh Ary is trapped inside. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the work was on a “war footing” as he arrived at the site on Wednesday evening. “Work is being done at a fast pace,” he said in a statement. Rescue efforts have been hampered by falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of crucial heavy-drilling machines. In case the route through the main tunnel entrance does not work, blasting and drilling have begun from the far end of the unfinished tunnel, nearly half a kilometre (over a quarter of a mile) long. Preparations have also been made for a risky vertical shaft directly above. The workers were seen alive for the first time on Tuesday, peering into the lens of an endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, water and electricity were being delivered. Though trapped, they have plenty of space, with the area inside 8.5 metres high and stretching about two kilometres in length. The tunnel is part of a prime minister Narendra Modi infrastructure project aimed at cutting travel times between some of the most popular Hindu sites in the country, as well as improving access to strategic areas bordering rival China. But experts have warned about the impact of extensive construction in Uttarakhand, large parts of which are prone to landslides. With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press