In this editorial segment, Mr. Sujit Nair addresses the recent Uttarakhand tunnel collapse, highlighting the plight of 41 individuals who have been trapped for over a week. The Center has announced a comprehensive five-option action plan to rescue the workers. Anurag Jain, the Secretary of Transport and Highways, revealed that multiple agencies, including ONGC, SJVNL, RVNL, NHIDCL, and THDCL, will collaborate on these alternatives, which involve drilling from three different sides to reach the trapped individuals. This decision was reached after a high-level meeting where various options were considered based on expert advice. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the construction wing of the Indian Army are also contributing to the rescue efforts, underscoring the government's commitment to saving lives in this critical situation.
#uttarakhand #tunnelcollapse #uttarakhandtunnelcollapse #tunnel #bhartiyajanataparty #bjp #dhami #pushkarsinghdhami #narendramodi #HWNews
#uttarakhand #tunnelcollapse #uttarakhandtunnelcollapse #tunnel #bhartiyajanataparty #bjp #dhami #pushkarsinghdhami #narendramodi #HWNews
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NewsTranscript
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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