The rescue operation of the eight workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel after a portion of it collapsed on Saturday has entered its fifth day. While no contact with the trapped workers has been established yet, the National Disaster Security Force (NDRF) managed to reach the last point of the roof of collapse site on Tuesday, reported The Times of India.
The rescue teams have been struggling for days to cross through the last 40-50 metre belt of the collapse site due to accumulation of water, mud and debris for the last four days.
Here are latest updates on Telangana tunnel rescue operation:
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- Thermocol boats came to the aid of the rescue teams to navigate through the difficult terrain of the tunnel to bring out the trapped workers, the TOI report said. However, the chances of their survival still remain low.
- While the teams have managed to reach the last point of the collapsed roof of the tunnel, challenges still remain in the form of water and silt to obstruct the rescue operations, the report added.
- The family of one of the workers trapped inside the tunnel, Sunny Singh, awaits his safe return to Jammu and Kashmir. The family, living in Gurha Manhasan village in the Pargwal area on the India-Pakistan border, reported news agency PTI.
- Sunny’s younger brother Rajesh told PTI, “We have had no news about him for the last four days and are looking forward to hearing good news soon. One of our relatives, who is also working there, was the one who informed us about the incident.” Sunny’s mother said that while they would talk to him almost everyday, the family did not speak to him on the day of the collapse.
- Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, citing the experts, called the incident one of the most difficult tunnel rescue operations because there is only one entry and exit point to the tunnel, reported PTI.
- He also said that the collapse might have occurred due to a slight tectonic shift and the failure of some geological fault lines.
- Uttam Kumar Reddy added that due to heavy flow of slit and water in the tunnel, even the lives of rescuers could be at risk. “There is one problem. The flow of slit and water into the tunnel at a very high speed continues. So there was one opinion expressed by some experts that the people going into the rescue, even their lives could be endangered. So, we are a responsible government, we are taking the best expert opinion, and we will take a final call on that,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
