- Thursday, December 26, 2024
The Australian tunnelling expert praised the local people, rescue agencies, media and the administration saying they all cooperated to ensure that the mission was completed successfully.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AS India managed to rescue 41 workers who got trapped behind an under-construction tunnel in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand that collapsed on November 12 after 17 days, praises poured in thick and fast for Arnold Dix, an international tunnelling expert who stayed around round the clock to ensure that the trapped men got out and met their families safely.
Dix, who is an accomplished lawyer and a technical and scientific expert from Australia, is the president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association in Geneva and is known for providing high-level investigations into disasters.
At the site of the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand where the workers got trapped, Dix wore many hats. Apart from providing technical inputs, he was also seen handling the impatient media microphones and the worried kin of the workers besides offering prayers for the workers’ well-being at a temporary temple set up near the tunnel.
India Weekly caught up with Dix over WhatsApp but due to his presence in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand, the conversation was far from smooth with the talks getting disconnected multiple times. It was later completed through a WhatsApp chat.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation that the news outlet had with the expert:
Read: How global media reacted to India’s tunnel rescue: ‘Human labour triumphed over machinery’
India Weekly: How was the mood among the local people, families of the trapped workers and the administration’s response while the rescue mission was underway?
Dix: The local people are just so wonderful and nice. Everyday, I used to have chats with them and also offered prayers to a local temple before joining the mission. The rescue agencies and press cooperated so much as did the administration. The local, state and central administration extended all possible cooperation to get the workers out safely. It was such fantastic teamwork that made this mission successful.
India Weekly: What was the role of the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, in the rescue work? He was always visible and welcomed the workers as they came out on November 28.
Dix: The chief minister gave an excellent leadership and was involved in the entire operation. He was there in every decision-making. The way he engaged in the mission, I feel he must be having a technical background.
India Weekly: Technically, what inputs did you give to the rescue team?
Dix: We had certain things to ensure while undertaking the rescue operation. Since the lives of 41 men were at stake, we had to ensure that there was no catastrophic failure. We needed to be very sure about how the rock was behaving in the fragile zone. The auger machine’s work would have created an impact and there was a chance of the loose rocks caving in and had to progress very carefully to reach the trapped workers.
India Weekly: Did the breakdown of the auger machine cause a big setback for the rescue teams and manual drilling — rat-hole mining technique — was the only option left?
Dix: It was not the case. In fact, the manual option was the first to be considered. Initially, it was considered too slow and the auger machine promised things to go faster. And so, the failure of the auger machine did not mean that we were left with the last option, which is manual drilling. It was actually the reverse. The failure of the auger machine demonstrated to us that the manual method was likely the best option since it is softer and more gentle and hence suitable for managing the risk of avalanches or collapses. It was not the last option but rather a natural progression as we understood the mountain better.
India Today: Is India technically equipped to deal with such a crisis or needs to progress more?
Dix: Having attended many such crises and responded to them, I feel India demonstrated that it is well prepared to handle such situations. The auger machine, vertical drilling machine, side-drilling machine and the capacity to reach from the other part of the tunnel highlight the depth of technological resources that India has.
There was a whole range of other technologies that were available to us and specifically offered to me that we did not utilise. India has more than enough equipment and the challenge was about which equipment to use and what methodology to follow and in what order so that the lives of the men trapped inside the tunnel were not in jeopardy.
India Weekly: Is this the first time that you handled such a case in India?
Dix: Yes, this is the first time that I was involved in such a complex rescue exercise in India and I was so very impressed with the way all the agencies came together to deliver. It is without a precedent in my career that multiple levels of government and their agencies came together with military institutions to deliver the outcomes that were so remarkable.
India Weekly: Any particular reason why this tunnel in Uttarakhand collapsed?
Dix: Yes, in this particular case, the ground conditions were unfavourable for self-support. The support engineering that holds up the tunnel was at the time insufficient to maintain the integrity of the tunnel. I suppose it was part of a road infrastructure where the incident happened and they way various agencies, including people with engineering backgrounds, assembled to respond to the collapse sensitively.
