Uttarkashi tunnel collapse LIVE: The efforts to rescue 41 trapped workers in Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi are underway as the rescue operations reached Day 17 today. Rat-hole mining experts have also been called in to aid the ongoing operations. Simultaneously, vertical drilling from above the tunnel is also underway. Twelve rat-hole mining experts will be involved in manual drilling and excavation horizontally through the last 10- or 12-metre stretch of debris of the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand’s Char Dham route. Two teams of seven and five men who are experts in the technique of rat-hole mining were called in by two private companies involved in the rescue operation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the government and all the agencies together are leaving no stone unturned to evacuate the workers trapped in the Uttarakhand tunnel for the last two weeks.