Hyderabad, Feb 28: Seven days after eight persons were trapped when the roof of an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district, the search operation continued on Friday with no signs of survivors.

A massive rescue operation by 12 agencies continued in the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel with a focus on the removal of silt and debris.

Teams of Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), Railways, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and rat hole miners were busy in intensive efforts to desilt the tunnel to clear obstruction to reach the tunnel end where the workers were trapped.

The rescue teams were also making strenuous efforts to remove the debris of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which broke into pieces in the February 22 incident. Gas and plasma cutters were being used to cut parts of the tail portion of the TBM.

Teams are entering the tunnel by rotation to carry out the debris removal work. On Thursday, five teams removed 6,000 cubic meters of silt.

Meanwhile, SCCL decided to send 200 more rescue workers for the operation, which continued for the seventh day. About 100 personnel have already reached the tunnel with advanced equipment.

SCCL Chairman and Managing Director N. Balram said if necessary, the company would send more men for the rescue.

Special Chief Secretary of Disaster Management Arvind Kumar is supervising the rescue operation from the site office at the mouth of the 14-km-long tunnel.

South Central Railway has deployed a team of metal-cutting experts along with requisite machinery to clear debris.

On a request by the Nagarkurnool district Collector, South Central Railway (SCR) sent two teams to help in the rescue operation by clearing the debris of steel and iron which have been hindering the rescue work.

The SCR teams have been deployed with requisite machinery, including a plasma cutting machine, Brocho cutting machine, portable air compressor, and ultra thermic cutting equipment.

The rescue workers were also engaged in the efforts to ensure that the loco train reached up to the last point and the conveyor belt became operational, which will speed up the removal of debris.

Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is monitoring the rescue operation, said plasma cutters, high-grade shutters, and debris removal machinery were being used while international experts were overseeing the strategy. He said dewatering processes had been reactivated to clear obstructions.

He posted on ‘X’ that a multi-agency rescue operation was in full swing at the tunnel, with the country’s best experts and advanced equipment deployed to save the trapped workers.

The rescue and relief operations would be completed within two to three days, and the tunnel works would resume in two to three months, he added.

The authorities imposed restrictions at the site after a visit by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders led by former minister T. Harish Rao amid a tense situation.

Uttar Kumar Reddy said precautionary restrictions had been imposed at the site to ensure the safety of both workers and rescuers.

The minister stated that the incident was one of the most complicated and complex tunnel accidents in Indian history, and for the first time, so many national and international agencies have been brought together under a unified command for the rescue mission.

“This is an extremely challenging operation, and the best experts in the field are involved. They are working selflessly, risking their own lives to complete this rescue,” he added.

The Minister also announced that after the workers were safely rescued, the government would ensure that tunnel works resume in the next two to three months and are completed within the stipulated time.

--IANS

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