Telangana Tunnel Collapse: Rescue Teams Inch Closer to Trapped Workers
Rescue teams are making significant progress in reaching the engineers and workers trapped inside a tunnel of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal project, following its collapse 24 hours ago.
Hyderabad: Rescue teams are making significant progress in reaching the engineers and workers trapped inside a tunnel of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal project, following its collapse 24 hours ago. The rescue operation, involving multiple agencies, is currently underway in Nagarkurnool district, approximately 150 km from Hyderabad.
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Rescue Efforts Intensify
Officials at the accident site have attempted to communicate with the trapped individuals by calling out their names, but no response has been received so far. The rescue personnel have managed to reach the 13th km inside the tunnel, which is near the location of the collapse that occurred at around 8:30 AM on Saturday.
“The teams are clearing debris, including iron, muck, and cement blocks, to reach the exact point where the Tunnel Boring Machine was last placed,” an official source said.
Also Read: Telangana CM Monitors Rescue Operations at SLBC Tunnel
Ministers and Officials at the Site
State Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and J Krishna Rao have reached the site to oversee the rescue operations. Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is closely monitoring the situation and has instructed officials to expedite efforts to save the trapped workers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reached out to CM Revanth Reddy, assuring full support from the central government for the ongoing rescue mission.
Eight Workers Remain Trapped
Out of the eight trapped individuals, six (including two engineers and four laborers) are from Jaiprakash Associates, while two are employees of a US-based company. On Saturday, nearly 50 workers had entered the tunnel along with a 200-meter-long tunnel boring machine. When the collapse happened at the 13.5 km mark, 42 workers managed to escape, while the remaining eight got stuck ahead of the machine.
World’s Longest Irrigation Tunnel
According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, the collapsed tunnel is part of a 44-km-long project designed to transport water from the Srisailam project to irrigate four lakh acres in Nalgonda district. Of the total length, around 9.5 km of work remains unfinished.
Rescue teams, including personnel from the NDRF, SDRF, Army, and company employees, continue their efforts to safely extract the trapped workers. Authorities are hopeful that access to the affected section will be achieved soon.
