Telangana tunnel accident: Rescue operation continues on ninth day

Hyderabad, March 2 (IANS) The operation to rescue eight trapped persons in a partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district entered the ninth day on Sunday.

Continuous water seepage remained a major impediment to the rescue work which is stated to be in the final stages

Multiple rescue teams were facing hurdles in the desilting and removal of debris from the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) after machine-cutting operations.

Despite intensified operations during the last two days, they could not clear the mounds of debris in the last 40-meter stretch of the 14-km tunnel where a portion of the roof collapsed on February 22 during excavation.

On Saturday, authorities had kept at least nine ambulances ready near the tunnel, which had sparked the buzz that the rescue workers may find the bodies anytime.

State minister Jupally Krishna Rao had also exuded confidence that four of those would be brought out on Sunday.

The rescue teams of Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, Singareni Mines Rescue, Fire Services, National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), HYDRAA, South Central Railway plasma cutters, and Rat Miners continued debris clearing at eight locations identified by NGRI after scanning of the accident site through Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

The NGRI experts traced some soft material under the debris in the last 10-15 meters of the tunnel but were not sure whether it was that of those trapped inside.

About 700 personnel from 18 agencies of the Centre and state governments are engaged in the rescue works. At least 120 workers are carrying out rescue work in each shift. According to officials, the operation is being conducted daily in three shifts.

The conveyor belt has still not become functional. Rescue teams hope that once this becomes functional, the debris removal can gather further momentum.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will be visiting the tunnel on Sunday evening. He will review the situation with senior officials and is expected to give directions. This will be his first visit to the accident site.

Both opposition BRS and BJP criticised the Chief Minister for not visiting the accident site. The ruling Congress, however, defended this on the grounds that this could affect the rescue operations.

Officials say multiple factors were delaying the rescue in what is stated to be the most difficult tunnel rescue operation in the country. As the loco train is available up to the 12th kilometre, the rescue teams are facing hardships in reaching the accident site.

Two workers were injured and eight others trapped when a portion of the tunnel roof collapsed on February 22 at the 14th km point.

The trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahau, all from Jharkhand.

Of the eight, two are engineers, two are operators and the remaining four are labourers.

They were employed by Jaiprakash Associates, the contracting firm for the tunnel project

--IANS

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