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Uttarakhand Secretary and Nodal Officer for Silkayara rescue operation Neeraj Khairwal said on Wednesday that rescuers managed to insert a microphone and speaker into the tunnel while a team of the National and State Disaster Response Force established audio communication with the 41 workers trapped in a 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel.
Giving updates about the health status of the workers, the official further informed a team of doctors who also spoke with the workers and inquired about their health. "Whatever medicines were needed have been delivered to them". He also said that rescuers successfully delivered essential items like medicines, clothes, food and other items to the trapped workers, adding that cooked food, clothes including undergarments, toothbrushes and towels has been sent through a 6-inch pipeline in sufficient quantity, "Some people were suffering from stomach upsets," he said. "A microphone and speaker have been sent through a wire in the pipeline to the labourers trapped inside the tunnel. The teams of NDRF and SDRF have also continued audio communication with the labourers," the official said. Expressing hope that all trapped workers will be freed one by one, Khairwal said, "The workers are very happy about the progress of the rescue operation and quite positive". The collapse occurred on November 12 during the construction of a tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot, trapping 41 labourers due to a muck fall in a 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel. A total of five agencies--Oil and Natual Gas Corporation (ONGC), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDCL)-- have been assigned specific responsibilities to evacuate the 41 labourers who have been trapped in the 2-km-built portion of the under-construction structure. On Tuesday morning, rescuers managed to insert an endoscopy camera into the tunnel and the first visuals captured showed the 41 workers had ample space inside the tunnel for them to move about. Visuals of workers trapped inside for the past 10 days emerged on Tuesday morning, has given new hope to worried relatives, some of whom are camping outside the site of the collapsed tunnel structure (ANI)
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