SLBC tunnel collapse: What we know so far

Four teams of National Disaster Response Force intensified rescue efforts on Sunday to save the eight persons trapped when in a tunnel that was being dug as part of SLBC collapsed near Domalapenta

Hyderabad: As the rescue and relief operations intensify to bring out eight personnel trapped in the SLBC tunnel, here is what we know so far about the SLBC tunnel collapse near Domalapenta in Telangana.

• At least two workers were injured and eight others were trapped when a portion of the tunnel being dug as part of Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) collapsed on Saturday (February 22).
• Four teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) comprising 150 personnel are participating in the rescue operations.
• The rescue teams have reached closer to the point where the tunnel roof collapsed.
• Water and mud accumulated on both sides of the machine hampering the rescue effort. Officials say water has to be pumped out and mud has to be cleared for the rescue work to progress further.
• The NDRF team moved upto 11th km in a loco train, found water and mud beyond this point. About three feet of water was accumulated in the tunnel.
• The NDRF personnel trudged ahead reached closer to the collapse point.
• Teams from the Indian Army and Singareni Collieries Company Limited and personnel of the State Disasters Response Force (SDRF) were participating in the rescue operation.
• Fifty persons were working on the left-side tunnel when the roof collapsed for three meters. The accident occurred at the 14th km point. While 42 workers came out of the tunnel, the remaining eight were trapped.
• Those trapped include two engineers and two machine operators. Of the eight, six (two engineers and four labourers) belong to Jaiprakash Associates and two are employees of a US company.
• The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was badly damaged in the accident. The water which gushed out from the tunnel roof and the soil pushed back the machine up to 80 meters.
• Those trapped men are from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
• The work on tunnel resumed recently
• Workers who rushed out said they heard an explosion, which could be a geological disturbance

 

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