The ongoing rescue operation to evacuate eight workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool district is still on even after three days since the accident. The rescue team has not been able to enter the tunnel due to the presence of mud and water inside, and the chances of survival are diminishing, Telangana Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao informed, who is closely monitoring the rescue operations at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapse site.
A team of rat-hole miners, who had rescued the construction workers trapped in the Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand in 2023, has joined the rescue teams to extricate the men. The team also includes the Indian Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local teams.
“The chances of survival under these conditions are not that good,” Telangana Minister Rao told reporters. “Muck has piled up too high, making it impossible to walk through. Rescuers are using rubber tubes and wooden planks to move forward.”
"To be honest, the chances of their survival are very, very, very remote. I myself went up to the end, almost just 50 meters short (of the mishap site). When we took photographs, the end (of the tunnel) was visible. And out of the 9-meter diameter (of the tunnel)–almost 30 feet, mud has piled up to 25 feet", he added.
Nagarkurnool District Collector B Santosh has informed that the rescue teams are deploying machinery to cover the last 40 m from the place where the workers are being trapped. “We are sending a team now (Monday). We couldn’t reach the last 40 m yesterday (Sunday); now with the help of a machine we will reach that as well. Parallelly, de-watering is going on and also excavators will be sent inside,” he asserted.
On Saturday morning, a three-metre section of the roof of the under-construction stretch of the tunnel collapsed near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool, trapping the workers, all of whom are from other states. The collapse took place only four days after construction work had resumed following a lengthy hiatus.
According to PTI, the trapped workers include Manoj Kumar (Project Engineer) from Uttar Pradesh, Srinivas (Field Engineer) from Uttar Pradesh, Sandeep Sahu (worker) from Jharkhand, Jataks (worker) from Jharkhand, Santosh Sahu (worker) from Jharkhand, Anuj Sahu (worker) from Jharkhand, Sunny Singh (worker) from Jammu & Kashmir, and Gurpreet Singh (worker) from Punjab. Four of the eight trapped are labourers, while the other four are employees of the construction company, said minister Krishna Rao.
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