Telangana tunnel rescue ops on for 72 hours, no contact with trapped workers yet
It has been over 72 hours since eight workers got trapped inside Telangana’s Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel after a portion of it collapsed on Saturday morning.
However, no major breakthrough has been achieved so far, despite strenuous effort by several rescuing agencies including SDRF and the Indian Army.
Experts from Geological Survey of India and National Geographical Research Institute have joined the rescue efforts of the eight workers trapped in the SLBC tunnel after they were brought in by the Telangana state government, reported news agency PTI.
The District Collector of Nagarkurnool B Santhosh, where the tunnel was being constructed, informed that no contact has been made with the trapped workers yet. He also said that as rescue teams are moving forward, they haven’t yet succeeded crossing through the last 40-50 metres block.
“As of now we are not able to communicate with them (trapped). We are taking the advice of the Geological survey of India and some other people. As of now we are dewatering and going forward. But for the last 40 or 50 meters we are not able to go. As of now we are taking the advice of GSI and NGRI. L& T experts have also come here,” B Santhosh told PTI.
The family members of the four workers trapped inside the tunnel, who are from Jharkhand, departed for Telangana last night, chief minister Hemant Soren’s office said. One member from each worker’s family departed with police officials.
A team of rat miners who successfully rescued workers trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel in 2023 also joined the rescue ops on Monday. “The plan of action will be decided after reviewing the condition inside,” one of the rat miners told PTI on Monday.
Visuals from the site show rescue workers trying to navigate through a huge pile of debris which is blocking the way to reach the trapped miners.
To aid the rescue efforts, endoscopic and robotic cameras were brought in on Monday, along with an NDRF dog squad to assist in the rescue operations. The cameras are being used to determine what is going on inside the tunnel.
The trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand. Of the eight, two are engineers, two operators and four labourers, according to PTI.
The chances of survival of the trapped miners remain grim as no contact has been made with them yet. The rescue officials are trying to dewater the tunnel to get rid of the access mud and water that has accumulated inside. They are also pumping oxygen inside to aid the survival of the trapped workers.
Telangana minister J Krishna Rao told PTI, “To be honest, the chances of their survival are very, very, very, very remote. Because, I 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, out of that 30 feet, mud has piled up to 25 feet…When we shouted their names also, there was no response…so, there is no chance at all.”