Nagarkurnool: A team of experts engaged in rescuing the eight persons trapped for the past five days in the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool were able to reach the end of the tunnel but could not trace those stuck inside.
The teams were able to reach up to 50 meters before the end of the tunnel with muck and debris making the operation challenging. “A 20-member team comprising NDRF, SDRF and Rat Miners were able to reach the last points of the tunnel. But there was a lot of debris. They are working out how to go about it,” said Nagarkurnool Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad.
“One day before they were able to reach up to 40 meters (before the end of the tunnel). Yesterday they reached (crossed) that 40 meters also,” the official further said. Gaikwad further said the team searched at the location but could not find anything last night.
Replying to a query, he said the Geological Survey of India team which has collected samples is yet to submit its reports on soil strength and others. Top experts from the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, GSI and other agencies who are making relentless efforts to find a breakthrough in the collapsed SLBC tunnel rescue work amidst the threat to the lives of rescuers' with the continuous flow of silt and water, are set to continue their operations on Wednesday.
Addressing media persons, Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday cited experts, who described this as the most complex and difficult tunnel rescue operation in the world or at least in India as there is only one entry or exit to the SLBC tunnel. There was no contact with the trapped persons though oxygen was being pumped into the tunnel continuously, the minister had said.
Eight personnel working on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project were trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed on February 22.
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Telangana Tunnel Collapse: No Breakthrough In Rescue Ops For 8 Trapped Men; Silt Remains A Challenge
