There was no breakthrough even as over 500 rescuers worked on a war footing on Friday to help trace the eight people who have been trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana. It has been six days since a portion of the tunnel collapsed six days ago, trapping the labourers inside.
#WATCH | Telangana SLBC tunnel collapse incident | A combined effort by mining experts from Singareni, NDRF, SDRF, Indian Army and other forces is being carried out in Nagarkurnool. Eight workers are trapped inside the tunnel after its portion collapsed on 22nd February. pic.twitter.com/zqeYNoBM3q
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2025
Earlier, in a statement, the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd said as per government's instructions, the coal miner has deployed 200 personnel for the ongoing rescue operations at the SLBC tunnel. Similarly, South Central Railway deployed its teams with equipment such as plasma cutter and machine and Brocho cutting machine, SCR Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) A Sridhar reportedly told news agency PTI.
The rescue teams have been de-watering and clearing slush and mud, and have managed to reach the accident spot. But they have not been able to find any trace of the trapped workers – living or dead. Authorities overseeing the rescue work have said that there are only slim chances of finding any survivors and called the search operation one of the toughest undertaken in the country.
ALSO READ | Telangana tunnel collapse: No sign of life yet as rescue operation enters critical phase
Meanwhile, Nagarkurnool District Collector B Santhosh dismissed reports that the images captured by NGRI's ground penetrating radar (GPR) are of human bodies in debris of the SLBC tunnel where eight persons were trapped.
#WATCH | Telangana SLBC tunnel collapse incident | Nagarkurnool: Latest visuals from the tunnel, as rescue teams cut through rods with the help of cutting machines as they continue to carry out the rescue operation. Eight workers are trapped inside the tunnel after its portion… pic.twitter.com/SWqCXeTQN0
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2025
"We have noticed that some fake news is going on that some bodies have been found. That news is not true. I request the Media also. If there is any such news, we will inform from the Collector's side," he told the press.
Officials said rat miners are trying to penetrate and confirm what they are.
Army, Navy, Singareni Collieries and other agencies along with central and state disaster response teams were involved in the rescue ops over the past few days. Nagarkurnool Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad said the metal cutting and debris clearing process is continuously going on.
"One team went into the tunnel at 7 AM. The clearing of debris has been going on since yesterday morning. Dewatering is also going on," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy had on Wednesday said the TBM (tunnel boring machine) that is struck inside will be cut into pieces by using gas cutters and removed. After this, the Army, Navy, Rat Miners and NDRF teams will make another serious effort to rescue the eight persons who are missing, without compromising their own safety.
Eight personnel working on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project were trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed on February 22.
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 Sahu, all from Jharkhand.
Of the eight, two are engineers, two are operators and the remaining four are labourers from Jharkhand.
The two engineers and four labourers belonged to the Jaiprakash Associates, the contracting firm of the SLBC tunnel project.
