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Telangana tunnel collapse: Rat-miners from 2023 Uttarakhand mission join rescue operations
Despite relentless efforts by the Indian Army, NDRF, and other agencies, no breakthrough has been achieved so far in the rescue operations
It's been two days since eight workers were trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel following the collapse of a portion of it on Saturday.
Telangana minister Jupally Krishna Rao has said that a team of rat miners, who rescued construction workers trapped in the Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand in 2023, has now joined the rescue operations.
Silkyara tunnel rescue operation
On November 12, 2023, a portion of the Silkyara tunnel had caved in, trapping 41 labourers inside the under-construction structure. After 17 days, they were finally rescued in a gruelling operation.
The rescuers had faced major challenges in reaching the trapped workers within the tunnel, despite using advanced horizontal drilling techniques through an auger machine.
After technical issues arose, authorities shifted to manual drilling to clear the final 10 metres of debris. The rescue team also employed vertical drilling alongside manual excavation using the rat-hole mining method.
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Twelve experts in rat-hole mining were called upon to utilise handheld tools in confined spaces. After manual drilling, the rescuers managed to insert a pipe into the tunnel, reaching the breakthrough point at 57 meters. This enabled the evacuation of the workers on November 28.
Telangana tunnel collapse updates
Telangana minister J Krishna Rao told PTI,"To be honest, the chances of their survival are very, very, very, very remote. Because, I myself went up to the end, almost just 50 meters short (of the mishap site). When we took photographs, the end (of the tunnel) was visible. And out of the 9 meter diameter (of the tunnel)--almost 30 feet, out of that 30 feet, mud has piled up to 25 feet."
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When we shouted their names also, there was no response...so, there is no chance at all," he said.
The persons who have been trapped in the collapsed tunnel for the past over 48 hours have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh (Jammu and Kashmir), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.
(With agency inputs)
