Hyderabad, Feb 27: Rescue workers continued their intensive efforts to remove silt and debris from the partially-collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool district as the operation to rescue eight trapped persons entered the final stage on the sixth day on Thursday.

Teams of the Army, the Navy, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and rat hole miners were removing silt and debris from the tunnel.

The rescue workers were using gas plasma cutters to detach damaged parts of the tail portion of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to clear obstructions to the access end of the tunnel where the eight men were trapped.

The rescue workers were also engaged in the efforts to ensure that the loco train reached the last point and the conveyor belt became operational.

Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is supervising 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 is 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 is 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.

"Eleven top agencies specialising in tunnel disasters are leading the operation, working with unmatched coordination and expertise. Rescue teams are working round the clock, using the most advanced technology and equipment to safely extract the trapped workers."

"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 once the workers are safely rescued, the government will ensure that tunnel works resume in the next two to three months and are completed within the stipulated time.

He took exception to Harish Rao’s visit to the tunnel, saying that he came to do politics. He blamed the previous BRS government for the tunnel tragedy. He said if the government had then taken up dewatering, the incident would not have happened.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the previous government neglected the project, which will carry 30 TMC water through gravity. Once the project is completed, it will irrigate 4.50 lakh acres.

Experts of the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) assessed the situation inside the tunnel. They will give their suggestions to the agencies involved for precautions to be taken to prevent any further collapse during the rescue operation.

Earlier, the agencies decided to go for full-fledged dewatering and desilting and prepared a concrete action plan.

The government is also taking the help of 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.

Rescue teams had not been able to advance further for the last two days due to 7-9 meter high silt in the last 40-metre stretch.

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 of the TBM, and seepage of water.

--IANS

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