SLBC tunnel accident: No contact established with trapped workers yet

Rescue teams are facing significant challenges due to mud and water filling the collapsed section of the tunnel. The last 200 meters remain blocked by debris, preventing further progress. Despite reaching the tunnel boring machine, the teams have been unable to move beyond it, struggling to access the final stretch where the trapped workers are located.

Hyderabad: No contact has been established with the workers and engineers trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel project. Their fate is still uncertain. Rescue efforts have been ramped up, with oxygen being pumped into the tunnel.

The rescue teams have encountered serious obstacles as the collapsed section of the tunnel is filled with mud and water. The final 200 meters of the collapsed section has been blocked by debris. The rescue teams which reached up to the tunnel boring machine, failed to proceed beyond. They find it difficult to enter the last leg to reach the trapped workers.

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Dewatering process has commenced, but it is yet to gain momentum. Water accumulated inside the tunnel, complicating the rescue efforts, is to be removed totally. High-capacity pumping sets, armored hoses, and other accessories were expected to reach the tunnel today.

Though the rescue agencies have been sounding confident, the condition on the ground remained challenging. As machinery cannot be deployed inside the tunnel, they are planning to extend support with manual operations.

Defence forces and other national agencies have been involved in the rescue efforts, providing additional support. The loose formations and gaps, compounded by a 400-metre overburden on the tunnel made it a difficult task. Some 35 kilometres stretch of tunnel project spanning 44 kms was completed while uncertainty looms over the completion of the work still left out.