Telangana tunnel tragedy: Search for missing persons enters 23rd day

The operation to trace the remaining seven persons trapped under debris in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana's Nagakurnool district entered the 23rd day on Sunday.

Rescue workers continued clearing slush, metal, and other debris from the last 50-70 meters of the 14-kilometer tunnel.

At the D1, one of the points where the Human Remains Detection Dog (HRDD) squad from Kerala and the ground probing radar (GPR) have detected some human remains, and soft material, debris to a height of nine meters have piled up.

Miners from Singareni Collieries Company Limited and Rathole miners from Uttarakhand were engaged in digging at the suspected sites – D1, D2 and P1. The officials hope to find the bodies of the missing persons once the debris is cleared at D1.

The agencies involved in the operation have divided the area from the loco-end point to the last 50 meters into three stretches for better output.

Robotic technology is used for search operations towards the tail-end of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM).

According to officials, specialised machinery had been deployed in coordination with an autonomous hydraulically powered robot to expedite the rescue work. This includes a 30 HP capacity liquid ring vacuum pump and a vacuum tank-equipped machine. These machines will facilitate the rapid removal of debris and accelerate work inside the tunnel.

Instead of manual digging, an autonomous hydraulically powered robot is being utilised, which, equipped with advanced technology, is conducting the excavation process inside the tunnel.

Through the vacuum tank mechanism, the debris, including 620 cubic meters of mud per hour, is being transported out using a conveyor belt.

Personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) were engaged in debris-clearing work in the 50-70 metre stretch.

The metal parts and other heavy materials were being shifted out of the tunnel with the help of loco-trolleys.

Eight persons were trapped when a portion of the tunnel collapsed on February 22.

Rescue workers on March 9 exhumed one body. He was identified as TBM operator Gurpreet Singh. The 40-year-old hailed from Punjab and was working for Robbins Company, which supplies and operates tunnel boring machines.

The seven persons yet to be traced are Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.

Disaster Management Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar, District Collector Badavath Santosh and Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad Raghunath were supervising the rescue operation involving teams from multiple agencies, including the Army, Singareni Mines Rescue Team, NDRF, SDRF, Rathole Miners, Geological Survey of India, HYDRAA, Anvi Robotics, and South Central Railway.