Telangana tunnel collapse: Over 700 personnel involved in mammoth task to save trapped workers as rescue ops enter 9th day

Efforts have been intensified to rescue eight workers trapped inside the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel for the ninth day. Experts who identified “anomalies” during tests have identified the location of four workers.

The Telangana government has deployed additional personnel at the rescue site to speed up the rescue operations. As per disaster management authorities, 18 organisations, 54 officials and 703 people are involved in the rescue operation. According to officials, they have sped up efforts to remove the slit inside the tunnel and the dewatering process.

Officials said the conveyor belt which got damaged in the collapse would be readied by Monday, and it would make the removal of silt inside the tunnel easier. "The number of personnel and equipment at the identified locations is being increased. The process of silt removal and dewatering is ongoing continuously,” a senior official told PTI.

On Saturday, geology experts identified the location of four workers. Using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) identified the position of four workers. Officials suspect four workers are likely to be trapped under the tunnel boring machine.

Eight persons including four workers, two engineers and two operators got trapped inside the tunnel when the roof of the tunnel partially 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. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is expected to visit the incident site on Sunday.