How a team from Nagpur helped 41 workers from breathing comfortably inside the Uttarakhand tunnel

As multiple agencies raced against time to rescue the 41 workers who were trapped inside Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel, a team from Nagpur-based Western Coal Fields monitored the level of carbon dioxide there to ensure that the workers did not gasp for breath.

The workers were rescued from the collapsed tunnel in Uttarkashi after a gruelling 17-day operation that culminated on Tuesday evening.

Three experts from Western Coal Fields (WCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), camped at the Silkyara tunnel site from 20 November. They were part of the core committee involved in discussions and key decisions, said general manager (rescue services) Dinesh Bisen, a member of the team.

Deputy manager (rescue services) M Vishnu and CMPDI director AK Rana were also part of the team, he said.

Initially, they were on standby to approach the trapped workers through vertical drilling in case the horizontal drilling had failed, reports TOI. Even as the horizontal approach succeeded, they played a key role in ensuring that the workers were not suffocated inside.

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“Drilling continued both horizontally and vertically as either of the approach could have helped. The vertical drilling was not needed but we were prepared,” Dinesh Bisen, company general manager (rescue), told TOI over phone.

Bisen told PTI that inside the tunnel, equipment such as an American-made auger boring machine, cranes, and lifts were used, and their operation produced carbon dioxide.

Their team’s responsibility was to monitor the level of carbon dioxide within the tunnel and ensure that it did not rise and cause any breathing difficulties.

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The team went down with gas detectors to assess oxygen levels and installed large fans to ensure optimal breathing conditions. Whenever the detectors indicated a decrease in oxygen levels, the huge fans at the open end were activated to facilitate easier breathing for the workers.

As advanced machinery was utilised to cut through the rocks, it resulted in the generation and accumulation of carbon dioxide. The WCL team successfully maintained the oxygen percentage at 20.09, employing fans to flush out carbon dioxide and other gases, said Bisen.

The drilling had to be stopped for the fans to run, so that there was no vibration.

WCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), is well-known for its internationally renowned rescue division.

Bisen described the mission as extremely difficult since it varies from a similar operation inside a mine. The width of the “gallery” (passageway) in a mine is 4.5 to five metres, while the Silkyara tunnel is 16 metres wide, he said.

Furthermore, additional issues arose from time to time, such as the auger drilling machine breaking down, he added.

According to TOI, the WCL team was also working on alternative capsule designs in collaboration with mine rescue experts in Australia and Peru, which might have been used to descend into the tunnel.

CIL keeps holding rescue drills among its subsidiaries during which the WCL teams have bagged many first prizes, apart from winning international competitions also.

In 2002, the WCL team represented the entire CIL in a mine rescue competition in Virginia, USA, and won first place. During a competition in Russia in 2018, it was named the most active rescue team.

A portion of the under-construction on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route collapsed on 12 November, blocking the exit of the workers who were inside the tunnel and triggering a massive rescue operation.

With inputs from PTI