Hyderabad: Telangana irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on February 26, Wednesday, said that the state government has escalated its efforts, deploying elite forces and national agencies, like the Indian Marine Commando Force (MARCOS) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to aid the rescue of eight workers trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district.
The Telangana minister said that a concrete plan of action has now been finalised to ensure the safety of both rescuers and survivors stuck in the SLBC tunnel.
“The assessment yesterday was that the people going in to rescue and bring out the survivors would themselves be at great risk. Yesterday and today, we have assessed the situation thoroughly and devised clear strategies to minimise risk for the rescuers and move forward efficiently. We now have a well-defined plan, and we are accelerating the rescue and relief operations with greater speed,” he said on the SLBC tunnel rescue efforts.
The SLBC tunnel rescue will be completed within two days and that new strategies åre being implemented to mitigate challenges inside the tunnel, Uttam Kumar Reddy stated. The Telangana minister also said that based on field inspections conducted over the two days, officials are also exploring alternate access routes, including approaching from the side and the main exit, to expedite the rescue.
At a high-level review meeting held at the incident site on Wednesday, Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, MP Dr Mallu Ravi, Jadcherla MLA Anirudh Reddy, Setwin chairman Giridhar Reddy, special chief secretary for Disaster Management Arvind Kumar, Nagarkurnool collector Badavath Santosh, SP Gaikwad Raghunath, and TSSPDCL CMD Musharraf Ali, assessed the ongoing rescue operations and discussed the next phase of interventions.
Accumulation of muddy water obstructing access to SLBC TBM
11 agencies, including MARCOS, BRO, the Navy, Army, NDRF, SDRF, Rat Miners, and tunnel rescue experts have been deployed to reach the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) of the SLBC tunnel, where the workers remain trapped. The Telangana irrigation minister also said that one of the biggest challenges in the rescue effort has been the massive accumulation of muddy water obstructing access to the TBM in the SLBC tunnel.
“To tackle this, the state government has intensified dewatering operations using advanced machinery, ensuring water removal progresses rapidly,” said a press release from Uttam Kumar Reddy’s office. He added that that alternate access routes are also being explored to mitigate risk and improve the speed of the rescue mission in the SLBC tunnel tragedy.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also said that additional precautions are being taken to ensure rescuer safety while moving forward aggressively to save the survivors of the SLBC tunnel tragedy. He further emphasised that real-time monitoring of tunnel conditions was being carried out using advanced imaging systems.
The incident occurred during the construction of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel five days ago and since then, the state government has centralised all emergency services at the site.
