Telangana tunnel collapse: 10 days on, no contact with 8 trapped workers

NDRF Commandant VVN Prasanna Kumar said 12 teams are working nonstop to reach the trapped workers, but rescuers have not yet made contact with them

Despite round-the-clock efforts, rescue agencies are yet to make any contact with the trapped workers in the Telangana tunnel collapse. Rescue efforts have been ongoing for 10 days to save eight workers, including engineers and labourers, from the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool.

 

National disaster response force (NDRF) Commandant VVN Prasanna Kumar said on Monday that 12 teams are working nonstop to reach the trapped workers, but rescuers have not yet made contact with them.

 

"The operation is going on in full swing. Approximately twelve agencies are working around the clock to find the victims. Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate them so far," said the NDRF commandant, as quoted by ANI. 

 

He said that top experts from across the country were sent by the Telangana and central governments to help with the complex tunnel operation.

 

“Due to the complexity of the tunnel operation, we could not achieve success so far. However, maximum manpower is engaged in a planned manner, and hopefully, we will get success in a short time,” Kumar said. 

 

CM visits tunnel collapse site

 

On Sunday, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy visited the site to check the rescue efforts. He said the government is working to speed up the rescue, but the exact location of the eight people trapped in the collapsed SLBC tunnel is still unknown.

 

After visiting the spot in Nagarkurnool, Reddy told reporters that the rescue would move faster once the broken conveyor belt was fixed. The belt, which removes silt, should be working again by Monday.

 

"They (rescue personnel) are not able to come to a full understanding on where the humans and the machinery got stuck. They have a preliminary estimation but not fully," he said.

 

Telangana tunnel collapse: What happened?

 

The incident happened on February 22 when part of the under-construction Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapsed in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool. Since then, about 500 personnel from different agencies, including state disaster response force (SDRF), NDRF, the Army, Indian Navy, border roads organisation, and Singareni Collieries, have been working on what officials call one of the most difficult rescue operations in India.

 

Krishna Rao, one of the first to enter the tunnel after the collapse, said on Friday that only a miracle could save the trapped workers.

 

At the time of the collapse, 50 workers were inside the tunnel, but 42 managed to escape.

 

Initial reports say the collapse was caused by a sudden rush of water and soil, covering nearly 8 km of the excavation site. Jaypee Associates and Robin Company, responsible for tunnel boring, said the incident happened within 30 minutes of starting work at 8 am.