Nearly 60 hours to the tragedy, rescue teams finally managed to enter the 2.5 km-long Tapovan tunnel were 25 and 35 people are feared trapped due to an avalanche that unleashed on Sunday, at Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district
The rescue teams comprising a joint team of ITBP, NDRF and SDRF personnel - wearing high-visibility jackets and yellow hardhats finally managed to clear some of the debris and with great caution entered the structure.
The tunnel has one entry and bifurcates, making it harder to locate the missing men. The challenge, though, is clearing the sludge quickly (and safely).
"Accumulation of a large amount of debris and sludge, we pull it out via buckets but the sludge keeps coming back. Progress is slow but we are trying to speed it up," SDRF personnel told ANI.
The walls of the tunnel are cracked and there is the sound of falling water in the background, as the emergency teams shout out warnings and notes to each other.
Tuesday afternoon it was estimated that only 80 of the 180 metres that needed to be cleared at the tunnel's entrance had been cleared.
Now, it appears around 60 metres are still left. A senior ITPB official said the rescuers had not been able to make contact with the trapped men but are hopeful for 'signs of life'.
The clock may be ticking, but the rescuers are not giving up hope. "We hope to save the people stuck inside," emergency workers, who have already saved 12 men from another, smaller, tunnel, said.
Meanwhile outside the tunnel other teams are on standby including medical teams and anxious family members and friends of those trapped in the tunnel.
Thirty-two deaths have been reported so far, with more than 170 people still missing, the toll is likely to increase.
