Fire breaks out at Telangana hydel power plant 9 people feared trapped

    (Eds: Adding details, reax of CM, MoS Kishan Reddy)
    Hyderabad, Aug 21 (PTI) Nine persons are feared
trapped in Srisailam hydroelectric plant located underground
on the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh border after a fire broke out
on Thursday night and "huge smoke" was preventing rescue
personnel from entering in, officials said on Friday.
    Nagarkurnool district Collector L Sharman said three
fire engines were engaged in extinguishing the huge smoke
emanating from the plant's premises.
    While Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was
monitoring the rescue work through his cabinet colleague,
Union Minister of State for Home, Kishan Reddy, said he has
asked NDRF to join the rescue efforts.
    "There is huge smoke and because of it we are not able
to enter into the plant premises. By 11 am we expect to enter
the plant," Sharman told P T I, adding, nine persons including
seven staff members are stuck.
    Those stuck include a Deputy Engineer and an Assistant
Engineer.
    "Our main target is to rescue them...we are not able
to contact them because they are not carrying mobile phones
and there is no mobile network," he said.
    Quoting preliminary information, he said a short-
circuit is suspected to have caused the fire.
    According to B Suresh, Chief Engineer of Telangana
State Power Generation Corporation (GENCO), there were nearly
25 people at the powerhouse when the mishap took place.
However, about 15 or 16 managed to come out.
    A police official said six persons have been admitted
to local hospitals for treatment for suffocation.
    Built on river Krishna, the Srisailam Left Bank power
station, about 200 km from Hyderabad, is operated by the
Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (GENCO).
    The plant has six units with combined capacity of 900
MW (6X150). The power generation was in full swing following
the incessant rains during the past few days.
    Power generation has been suspended following the fire
mishap.
    The fire has been brought under control but thick
smoke engulfed the underground area of the powerhouse making
rescue operations difficult, officials said.
    Two of the nine who are trapped belong to a private
firm that maintains batteries, officials said.
    "There are three emergency exits in the pant. There is
a possibility that they (trapped) can come out through them.
But we cannot say until the smoke is cleared and the rescue
teams can go inside," Suresh said.
    The plant is located in a one km long tunnel and the
fire is suspected to have broke out at the service bay area in
the Main Control Room, a Fire Department official said.
    "We were not able to reach the site as dense smoke
engulfed the area. As of now we are trying to put off small
patches of fire here and there at the transformer area," the
official said.
    Telangana Energy minister Jagadish Reddy said
personnel from Police, Fire and Emergency services department
are involved in the rescue operations.
    Officials of the Singareni collieries have also been
contacted for their help since they have expertise in
underground rescue operations, he added.
    Chief Minister Rao expressed shock over the accident.
    "The CM is eliciting information on the accident on a
regular basis. The CM wants all those who are trapped in the
plant to come out safely," a press release from his office
said.
    Rao spoke to Minister Jagdish Reddy and Transco, Genco
CMD D Prabhakar Rao who are at the site and reviewed the
relief measures taking place there, it said.
    Kishan Reddy said he spoke to the NDRF personnel and
directed them to immediately get involved in rescue
operations.
    "Saddened by the fire accident in the Hydel Power
Generation Unit on the left banks of Srisailam, Telangana,
late night. Spoke to the NDRF personnel and directed them for
immediate rescue operations. Prayers for early recovery of the
injured" he said in a statement.
    Telangana BJP in a statement demanded the government
to put to use all resources to provide medical support to the
injured immediately, and ensure the rescue and relief are
undertaken on war footing to find those who are still stuck
inside the plant. PTI GDK VVK SA SS
PTI PTI

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)