
Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) Commissioner AV Ranganath on Sunday, February 23, stated that NDRF teams are 50 meters away from the eight persons trapped in the collapsed under construction tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district.
“The disaster response forces are unable to reach due to heavy muck and slush which is 1718 feet deep,” Ranganath said, adding that forces are currently pumping out water and cleaning debris.
The teams were racing against time to reach the 14th-kilometre point where the roof of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapsed on Saturday. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Army, the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) were making intensive efforts.
About 250 personnel of the NDRF, State Disaster Response Force and 24 personnel each of the Army, the SCCL, and the HYDRAA were facing the challenge of dewatering and desilting the tunnel for a length of about 100 metres to reach the spot.
Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, who was supervising the rescue operation, said all efforts were being made to pull out the trapped men safely. He said the possibility of reaching the spot by digging the tunnel from the top was being explored.
NDRF Deputy Commandant Sukhendu Datta said that the task is challenging as the water is filled in the tunnel for about two kilometres. He also said the rescue teams called out trapped men but there was no response. "We can’t say where the trapped men are and in what condition," he said.
At least two workers were injured and eight others were trapped when a portion of the tunnel being dug as part of the SLBC collapsed near Domalapenta. A total of 50 persons were working on the left-side tunnel when the roof collapsed for three metres.
While 42 workers came out of the tunnel, the remaining eight were trapped. Those trapped include two engineers and two machine operators. The trapped men are from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Jammu & Kashmir.
The state government had recently resumed the construction work on the tunnel to complete the long-pending project. The construction firm had started work four days ago and on Saturday morning, 50 workers entered the tunnel for the work.
Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said the work was started on the tunnel after a survey by the Geological Survey of India. He told the media that the company which was hired for the work has a good record in digging tunnels.
He said soon after the work began on Saturday morning, water started entering the tunnel and soil caved in. "The workers who came out said they heard an explosion, which could be a geological disturbance," he said, adding that those who were in front of the boring machine were trapped in the tunnel.