Telangana tunnel collapse: Hope fades for workers as huge pile of debris affects ops

Relentless efforts by the Indian Army, NDRF, and other agencies have not been able to bring about a breakthrough in the operations to rescue eight workers trapped in a tunnel for over 30 hours after a section of it collapsed in Telangana.

Telangana minister J Krishna Rao told reporters on Sunday (February 23) evening that the chances of survival under the circumstances are “not that good”. “Muck has piled up too high inside the tunnel, making it impossible to walk through. They (rescuers) are using rubber tubes and wooden planks to navigate through it,” Krishna Rao, who went inside the tunnel, told reporters.

“We can’t say. We are hopeful, but the kind of incident that took place was very serious, and we cannot say what their [trapped workers] chances of survival are. Chances are not that good,” he admitted when asked.

Krishna Rao said some survivors swam across the tunnel after the incident happened.

Also read: Telangana tunnel collapse: Rescuers inch closer to trapped workers

Final 200 metres full of water and silt

Videos released by the state government showed rescuers navigating through thick muck, tangled iron rods, and cement blocks.

Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said around 70 people were working in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel on Saturday morning when a part of it collapsed. Most of them could escape and return using their internal train or locomotive there after the incident.

“But eight people have been missing since yesterday. We are hoping and praying that they are safe...,” Reddy said.

The final 200-metre stretch of the collapsed section of the tunnel has been filled with water and silt, the minister said, indicating the difficulty that the rescue teams are faced with to reach the spot.

Heavy machinery not usable

Reddy said getting heavy machinery into the tunnel became difficult due to the terrain, but officials are working on alternate methods to remove the debris.

The Irrigation Department, Disaster Response Teams, and Defence personnel are coordinating efforts, with oxygen being continuously pumped inside and motors deployed for dewatering, Reddy further said.

The teams that managed to wade up to the 13th kilometre, where the tunnel had collapsed, called out the names of the trapped individuals, but there was no response, sources said.

Also read: Telangana tunnel collapse: 8 workers trapped; rescuers call out names, get no response

The trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, 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 operators and four labourers.

Nagarkurnool District Collector B Santhosh, who is supervising the rescue operation, said four NDRF teams—one from Hyderabad and three from Vijayawada, comprising 138 members—24 personnel of the army, personnel of SDRF, besides 23 members from SCCL along with equipment besides members of the infra firm are engaged in the rescue operation.

“As of now, we don’t have communication with them (those trapped),” the collector said on Sunday afternoon.

No response from trapped workers

An NDRF official told a TV channel that a team had last night went inside the tunnel. There is lot of debris and the TBM is also damaged and its parts are scattered inside.

“There is waterlogging for 2 km just before the 13.5 km point. It is a challenging task, and due to this, our heavy equipment is not able to reach till the last point and hence dewatering has to be completed which will enable the equipment to reach ahead. Then only the removal of debris can start. Additional motors have been used to speed up the dewatering process,” he said.

The team, after reaching 13.5 km, called those trapped, but did not get any reply from them, he said. After this point there is still a 200-metre patch and it is only after reaching near them would their condition be known, he added The Engineer Task Force (ETF) of the Bison Division of Indian Army from Secunderabad has been deployed in the rescue operations, a defence release said.

“The Indian Army is working closely with all stakeholders for expediting the rescue efforts. Indian Army's priority remains the swift and safe extraction of those trapped inside,” the release said.

Also read: Six feared trapped as tunnel roof collapses in Telangana

Four from Jharkhand

Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called and spoke to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday over the ongoing rescue operations.

Rahul Gandhi appreciated the steps taken and the constant vigil and monitoring and asked the government to leave no stone unturned to try to save the trapped workers, an official release said.

Governor Jishnu Dev Varma spoke to Nagarkurnool District Collector Santhosh over phone and enquired about the ongoing rescue operations.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren urged Revanth Reddy to ensure all possible assistance for the rescue of the trapped as four of them hail from that state.

According to preliminary information, the four workers from Jharkhand who are trapped in the tunnel belong to Gumla district in Jharkhand, an official said.

(With agency inputs)