Like the entire country, Y. Srinivas Reddy too was glued to television all these days following minute to minute developments in the rescue mission going on in the hills of Uttarkashi — where 41 men were trapped for 400 hours. While he went about his normal work, the industrialist was devising engineering strategies in his mind to get the trapped men out quickly.
So when his phone rang last Saturday morning (November 25), while he was getting ready for work — he was pleasantly surprised. The caller was his friend, former DRDO Chairman Dr Satheesh Reddy. “I suggested Plasma based cutting will be the faster solution in that hour of crisis. It eventually helped in the rescue mission and finally all men were brought out safely,” smiles Y. Srinivas Reddy, Managing Director, BeRolleX Industries in Sricity.
While various agencies and people worked together to save the 41 men, Hyderabad also played an important part, with Srinivas Reddy’s engineering plan, quick response, and timely assistance proving crucial in one of India’s biggest rescue missions in the Himalayas, ever.
It was around 9.30 am when senior officials in Uttarakhand approached Dr. Satheesh Reddy for assistance in cutting the auger drilling equipment, which got stuck up in the pipe. Dr Satheesh Reddy contacted industries for various methods and equipment. In the process, he called up Srinivas Reddy, who offered a solution.
Minutes after discussing the subject with the former DRDO Chairman, at 9.30 a.m., both Srinivas Reddy and Dr Satheesh Reddy were on a conference call with Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the Prime Minister and now OSD in Uttarakhand. “I gave them a presentation and convinced them that plasma cutting was an effective way. They agreed.”
Without wasting a second, Srinivas Reddy got in touch with another friend, Santosh Kumar, who owns and operates a plasma cutting servicing and manufacturing facility near Cherlapally Industrial Area. Meanwhile, personnel on the ground in Uttarkashi submitted various images of the pipe, as well as information about its size and thickness, to Srinivas Reddy, which helped finalise the plan.
“Conventionally, LPG’s are used to cut metal. The other two ways are plasma-based cutting and through water jetting. Since this mission demanded urgency, we sourced two portable plasma cutters (one working and one stand by), which can move inside 800 MM dia pipe,” explains Srinivas Reddy, who knew the effectiveness of plasma cutters, as he had used the same method to cut pipes in his industry.
He says plasma is four times faster (in cutting metal) than the conventional way. They then began looking for cutting and electrical professionals to help with plasma cutting. They settled on Ajay Shah, who works alongside Santosh Kumar, and outsourced the electrical specialist Nagaraju. By 2.30 p.m., both had arrived at the Begumpet airport, accompanied by Santosh Kumar, with the equipment.
“The coordination between all agencies was so swift that an Indian Air Force plane stationed in Bidar was asked to fly down to Begumpet immediately. The flight picked up the three and the equipment and flew them down to Dehradun,” informs 59-year-old Srinivas Reddy, who has been in the Engineering line for last three decades.
All put together, the equipment weighed around 75 kgs. “I sent two plasma cutters, just in case one develops a technical issue or does not work,” says the industrialist. After reaching Dehradun by 7.30 p.m., the three men were driven to Uttarkashi. They reached the site by 2 a.m., amid bone chilling cold. None slept that night.
While Ajay Shah entered the pipeline and cut the auger drilling machine and blades, ensuring that the material was removed from the pipe, Nagaraju verified that there were no electrical malfunctions even though the second plasma cutter was on standby. They raced against time and completed their work in 10 hours. “Plasma cutters operates on compressed air and 10 to 12 kilowatt electricity is required to operate the cutters,” informs Srinivas Reddy, who remained in constant touch until Ajay Shah came out after completing his mission.
The fast cutting of the auger drilling equipment, ensured that the rescuers overcome a significant bottleneck and moved ahead the 800 MM dia pipe, allowing for manual removal of the remaining debris. “Since the auger drilling machine got stuck, our job was more of a destruction one, where we had to cut through the pipeline. Finally, the rat miners took it to the next level and all 41 could be rescued safely,” says Srinivas Reddy.
Srinivas Reddy’s ideas, quick response and timely help came in for much appreciation from all quarters. “Once I saw the rescued men, I felt so relieved. It felt as if I had walked out of the tunnel,” smiles Srinivas Reddy, a resident of Habsiguda.
