A short circuit led to a fire at the Left Bank Hydroelectric Power plant in Telangana’s Srisailam late Thursday night. There were around 20 people inside at the time of the incident. While 10 persons managed to escape from the scene, at least nine people are said to be stuck inside the plant, according to Nagarkurnool district authorities.
The underground hydroelectric power plant is located in Domalapenta of Amrabad mandal along the left bank of Srisailam project on the river Krishna.
The 900 MW power plant has as many as six turbines with a capacity of 150 MW each. Reports in regional media suggest the fire took place in the first unit of the power station.
Some visuals of the incident showed a series of explosions followed by heavy flames and smoke emanating from the station.
A reported short-circuit caused fire accident in Hydro Electric Project at Srisailam Left Bank (Telangana), 9 believed to have trapped inside the plant & are being rescued. @thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/s7qRdveYul
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) August 21, 2020
Officials told media that the staff were stuck in the tunnel route. The District Collector said the accident occurred as the heavy smoke spread inside the plant.
The missing staff were identified as deputy engineers Srinivas, Venkat Rao; assistant engineers Fathima, Mohan, Sundar, Kiran and Rambabu; while two others belong to a private company from Hyderabad.
State Minister for Energy Jagadish Reddy said that the accident took place in Unit 1 and as many as four panel boards were damaged.
Speaking to media, the Minister said that there are around nine people still trapped inside the plant and the dense smoke is hindering the rescue operations by police and fire staff.
National Disaster Response Force teams are making efforts to go inside the tunnel and Singareni Collieries Limited was also consulted for assistance in the rescue operations, according to the Minister.
State Minister for Agriculture Niranjan Reddy, MLA Guvvala Balraju, Genco Chief Managing Director Prabhakar Rao, District Collector, and Superintendent of Police have reached the spot and are overseeing rescue operations.