Telangana Tunnel Accident: Rescue Operation Enters Sixth Day

HYDERABAD:
The operation to rescue eight persons trapped in the partially-collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district entered the sixth day on Thursday

Army, Navy, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and rat hole miners were engaged in intensified efforts to remove silt and debris from the tunnel.

The rescue workers were using gas cutters to detach damaged parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM).

The rescue agencies intensified the operation late Wednesday after a high-level meeting attended by military tunnel experts and state ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy decided to move ahead with a concrete action plan. The meeting decided to go for full-fledged dewatering and desilting.

Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy is hopeful that a breakthrough in reaching the trapped men could happen ‘very soon’.

The Minister stated that the rescue mission was in the final stage. “With the intensified rescue efforts, deployment of elite forces, and new high-tech interventions, a breakthrough in reaching the trapped workers could happen very soon,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy.

He expressed the hope that the rescue operation would be completed within two days and that new strategies were being implemented to mitigate challenges inside the tunnel.

The Minister said that as part of the intensified rescue operations, the government has also introduced reinforced support structures to stabilise the pathway leading to the TBM, ensuring that rescuers can navigate safely through the tunnel.

“Officials have been instructed to accelerate debris removal and reinforce weakened tunnel sections to prevent any secondary collapses,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The government is also taking the help of experts in the construction of tunnels in border areas and those who participated in rescue operations after similar tunnel accidents in other parts of the country.

Rescue teams had not been able to advance further for the last two days due to 7-9 metre high silt in the last 40-meter stretch.

On a request from Telangana, the National Disaster Management Authority has requested the National Remote Sensing Centre and Geological Survey of India to conduct a surface and sub-surface assessment of the incident site. This assessment is needed for the safety of the teams carrying out rescue operations.

The accident occurred 14 km inside the tunnel. While the rescue teams had already reached 13.5 km, they could not advance further for the last two days due to mud, debris of TBM and seepage of water.