Days after the partial collapse of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel IN Telangana, rescue operations are going in full swing to extricate the eight trapped workers. In a bid to make way to reach the stranded persons, the teams have engaged in cutting down a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM).
Telangana Tunnel Collapse: Rescue Ops Continue, TBM Parts Being Cut To Reach Stranded SLBC Workers
Over the past few days following the February 22 tunnel collapse in Telangana, a team of over 500 skilled personnel from the Army, Navy, Singareni Collieries, and other agencies have been involved in the extensive rescue operations to reach the stranded workers.
As per PTI, the trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahau, all from Jharkhand. Of the eight, two are engineers, two are operators and the remaining four are labourers. The tunnel collapsed on February 22.
About The Rescue Operation
A team of over 500 skilled personnel from the Army, Navy, Singareni Collieries, and other agencies were involved in the rescue ops over the past few days.
Commenting on the progress, Nagarkurnool Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad said that teams comprising personnel from NDRF, Army, state-run miner Singareni Collieries, rat miners, and other agencies are working continuously to cut the parts of the TBM.
"The rescue operation is going on... (Saturday) morning a team went inside (the tunnel)... The process of dewatering and removing debris is also going on simultaneously. Whatever obstacles are coming in between (to reach the spot where they can search for trapped persons), we have to remove them ", the SP told PTI.
He also asserted that the damaged part of the conveyor belt in the tunnel is expected to be repaired during the day to facilitate the transportation of debris.
“The whole operation has been reviewed with all the officials, including from NDRF, Army, SDRF, District Collector, and superintendent of police...we have made a concrete plan of action today that we will go ahead into the silt (in the tunnel). Now we are hoping that we can complete the whole operation in two days. We have decided a plan of action and decided a timeframe, and now we will go forward", Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said a day before.
Reddy said the state government has roped in the best experts who have experience in building tunnels at border areas, retired army officials and people who participated in the rescue operations wherever tunnel accidents happened and sought their opinion.
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The minister also said the Indian Marine Commando Force (MARCOS) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) have been brought in for the rescue operations
Anomalies Detected In Tunnel Construction
Amid the ongoing rescue operations, scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and detected some "anomalies" inside the tunnel, as per PTI.
However, it is unclear what these anomalies represent, given the challenging conditions inside the tunnel, including mud and saturated water bodies, official sources said.
Rescue personnel need to examine these "anomalies" further to identify them, they added.
(With PTI Inputs)
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