Eight persons have been trapped under debris and muck for over two days after the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool district partially collapsed on Saturday morning. After exhausting every possible way of getting them out, the Telangana government has tapped the rat miners, who had rescued the construction workers trapped in the Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel, for the rescue operation.
Despite relentless efforts by the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, and other agencies, no breakthrough has been achieved so far in the rescue operations as the teams had to navigate through thick muck, tangled iron rods, and cement blocks to reach the accident spot in the tunnel to extricate the persons who have remained trapped for over two days inside the tunnel after a section of it collapsed in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project in Telangana's Nagarkurnool district on Saturday morning. Even a state minister has termed the possibility of getting the trapped people out alive as ‘very, very, very, very remote’.
"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 accident 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 upto 25 feet", minister Jupally Krishna Rao told PTI.
{{/usCountry}}"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 accident 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 upto 25 feet", minister Jupally Krishna Rao told PTI.
{{/usCountry}}"When we shouted their names also, there was no response...so, there (seems to be) no chance at all," he said.
"Even assuming they (the trapped persons) are in the lower part of the TBM machine, assuming even if it is intact on the top, where is the air (oxygen)? Underneath, how the oxygen will go," he asked though pumping of oxygen and dewatering have been continuously done.
Rao also mentioned that a team of rat miners, who had rescued the construction workers trapped in the Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand in 2023, has joined the rescue teams to extricate the men.
A team of 584 skilled personnel of the Army, Navy, Singareni Collieries, and other agencies along with central and state disaster response teams, have conducted tunnel inspections seven times, official sources said adding gas cutters to cut the metal rods are continuously working.
Sniffer dogs were also brought in to locate those inside the tunnel. However, due to the presence of water, they were unable to move forward.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has instructed officials to leave no stone unturned in the efforts to save the trapped persons.
Who are the people trapped in the SLBC tunnel collapse?
The persons who have been trapped in the collapsed SLBC tunnel for the past over 48 hours have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh from Jammu and Kashmir, Gurpreet Singh from Punjab, and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.
Of the eight, two are engineers, two are operators and four are labourers.
Telangana Minister for Roads and Buildings Komatireeddy Venkat Reddy expressed hope and prayed for the safe rescue of eight people. As the rescue operation was in progress, the workers who survived the accident hoped for the safe return of their colleagues and recalled the tragedy that unfolded before their eyes.
Nirmal Sahu, one of the workers, said when they went inside the tunnel on February 22 morning, the gush of water increased substantially and loose soil also started falling off. Those who sensed the danger ran to safety but eight persons could not come out, Sahu, who hails from Jharkhand, told PTI.
Few workers suffered minor injuries while running out of the tunnel, said another worker Obi Sahu who is related to Sandeep Sahu, one of the trapped laborers.