Hours of hectic rescue operations proved futile as nine dead bodies were pulled out from the Telangana State power generation corporation's hydel power station at Srisailam in Nagarkurnool district of Telangana. Hope had faded by noon as rescuers were unable to reach the nine staff who had been trapped inside the underground power plant and by evening, not one person could be saved. After several hours of efforts, the bodies were recovered one after the other by the rescue teams at the escape tunnels after close to 18 hours after the fire broke in the underground power plant which is at a depth of 1.2 kilometers.
The accident is reported to have taken place at around 10:30 pm on Thursday due to a short circuit at the underground power plant. Though several workers escaped, nine others were trapped and their bodies were recovered by rescue personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) during their rescue efforts on Friday. According to officials, two rescue teams from Singareni Collieries also helped expedite the rescue efforts.
Speaking to TNM, Nagarkurnool Collector, L Sharman said, “The rescue personnel from various teams have been working together as part of the operation to recover the bodies. According to the personnel, three of the bodies of the staff were found in a sitting position.”
All the bodies were taken to Genco hospital for the postmortem. The dead were identified as Mohan Kumar and Uzma Fathima, both Assistant Engineers who hailed from Hyderabad, Sundar Naik, an Assistant Engineer from Suryapet, Deputy Engineer Srinivas Goud from Hyderabad, Assistant Engineer Venkatarao from Palvancha, two plant attendants Ram Babu from Khammam and Kiran from Palvanch. Vinesh and Mahesh Kumar, both staff of a battery company were also declared dead in the fire mishap.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, in an official statement said, “Deeply shocked over the Srisailam Power Plant accident in which people who were trapped inside the plant died as all the efforts to save them have failed.” The CM described the accident as the most tragic and has conveyed his condolences to members of the bereaved family.”
He also ordered a CID (Crime Investigation Department) inquiry into the fire incident and has made it clear that the reasons behind the accident should be brought to light. Based on the CM’s instructions, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has appointed CID Additional DGP Govind Singh as the Inquiry Officer to probe the accident. According to the official statement released by the Chief Minister's Office, the Additional DGP has been asked to probe the matter and submit a report to the government.
In a friendly gesture, Andhra Pradesh state had also directed Srisailam right bank officials to help the Telangana left bank hydel station. Energy Secretary Srikant Nagulapalli directed officials of Srisailam right bank power house and AP State Load Dispatch Centre to extend possible help to Telangana left bank hydel station.
The 39-member CISF team consisted of fire rescue personnel and also disaster management personnel. They were deployed to the accident site from the Hakimpet base camp in Hyderabad.
The Srisailam dam is located across the Krishna river which serves as the border between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.