Breakthrough in reaching trapped men in Telangana tunnel likely 'very soon'

With the operation to rescue eight persons trapped in the partially-collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool district intensified, state Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said a breakthrough in reaching the trapped men could happen "very soon".

The minister, who reviewed the situation with officials of agencies involved in the rescue operation, declared that the rescue mission is final stages.

"With the intensified rescue efforts, deployment of elite forces, and new high-tech interventions, a breakthrough in reaching the trapped workers could happen very soon," said Uttam Kumar Reddy who along with Roads and Buildings Ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and MP Mallu Ravi reviewed the situation.

The Irrigation Minister said after a high-level review meeting at the incident site, it was assessed that the rescue would be completed within two days and that new strategies were being implemented to mitigate challenges inside the tunnel.

As part of the intensified rescue operations, the government has also introduced reinforced support structures to stabilise the pathway leading to the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), ensuring that rescuers can navigate safely through the tunnel, the minister posted on X.

"Officials have been instructed to accelerate debris removal and reinforce weakened tunnel sections to prevent any secondary collapses. For the past five days, the state government has been working relentlessly, mobilising all available resources to rescue the trapped workers," said Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is personally monitoring the situation, directing that all critical agencies remain stationed at the site until the workers are rescued.

Uttam Kumar Reddy earlier told media at the site office at the tunnel entrance that the rescue efforts would be speeded up. Rescue teams will now be moving forward with a concrete plan of action to reach the accident site through the silt.

In the review meeting, it was decided to go for full-fledged dewatering and desilting and to completely remove the silt. The Army, the Navy, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other rescue teams will execute the plan without risking the lives of the workers. The help of rat miners will also be taken.

The minister said that experts in the construction of tunnels in border areas and those who participated in rescue operations after similar tunnel accidents in other parts of the country are being taken for the rescue operation.

"Best experts in the country and serving and retired Army officers were invited. They went into the tunnel and came out after assessing the situation," said the minister.

The rescue teams are also taking the suggestions of tunnel experts from other countries to move forward.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said that gas cutters will be used to remove parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) which was damaged after a portion of the roof collapsed on February 22.

Earlier, a team of rescue workers from different agencies finally succeeded in crossing the last 40 metre stretch and returned but there was no word about the fate of the eight persons.

Tunnel experts from the Border Security Force (BSF) were roped in as part of the efforts to reach the head portion of the TBM.

Rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army, Navy and other agencies have not been able to advance further due to 7-9 metre high mud while the continuous seepage of water has made the entire operation risky for the rescue workers.

On a request from Telangana, the National Disaster Management Authority has requested the National Remote Sensing Centre and the Geological Survey of India to conduct surface and sub-surface assessment of the incident site. This assessment is needed for the safety of the teams carrying out rescue operations.

The accident occurred 14 km inside the tunnel. While the rescue teams had already reached 13.5 km, they could not advance further for the last two days due to mud, debris from the TBM, and seepage of water. The divers of the Navy’s special forces unit Marcos were also unable to wade through the slush.

With more than 100 hours after the accident, the chances of survival of the trapped men are stated to be remote.

Meanwhile, Jaypee Group founder Jaiprakash Gaur visited the tunnel on Wednesday and said they were making their best efforts to rescue to trapped men. Jaypee is the contracting firm for the SLBC project.

Jaiprakash Gaur said after completing the rescue operation, the company would resume the work to execute the project. He told media persons that they encountered such incidents during tunnel works in the past.