Telangana tunnel collapse: Army, NDRF roped in for rescue ops

Rescue operations underway at tunnel site. Pic/PTI

The Telangana government is working with the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF and all other tunnel experts in the country to try and save the eight workers who remained trapped for the past 30 hours, Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Sunday.

Eight workers are trapped around 14 km inside the tunnel of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project after part of its roof collapsed on Saturday in Nagarkurnool district.

Reddy, who is camping at the project site and overseeing the rescue operations, hoped that the trapped woekers would be saved by this evening. "I'm monitoring on a minute-to-minute basis. The government of Telangana is working with the Indian Army, Indian Navy, NDRF, and all other tunnel experts in the country to try and save the situation here," he said.

Army installing pumping sets. Pic/X@dprohyd

About 70 workers were in the tunnel when it collapse and most of them could escape. Meanwhile, the Engineer Task Force (ETF) of the Bison Division of the Indian Army has been deployed to assist in rescue operations.

A defence release said that Army medical teams and engineers equipped with high-capacity pumping sets, armored hoses, excavators, and bulldozers, are working tirelessly to clear debris and facilitate safe evacuation from the collapsed tunnel.

The release further said a Joint meeting with the Civil administration, NDRF, SDRF, Army, and Tunnel construction contractors was under progress.

Rescuers making headway

A rescue team made headway and reached the spot where a tunnel boring machine was working during the incident, Nagarkurnool District Collector B Santhosh said on Sunday. However, silt poses a challenge to move further to reach the spot where the people are believed to have been trapped, he added.

The collector, who is supervising the rescue operation, said four NDRF teams - one from Hyderabad and three from Vijayawada, comprising 138 members, 24 personnel of the army, personnel of SDRF, 23 members with equipment besides members of the infra firm are engaged in the rescue operations.

The rescuers have reached the point where the tunnel boring machine is there. After this point, there is still a 200-meter patch and it is only after reaching near them their condition would be known, added the collector.

Oxygen and power supply has been made available in the tunnel and dewatering and the de-silting operation is also underway.

70
No of workers inside the tunnel during collapse

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