Rescue operation underway to locate workers trapped inside
the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel, in
Nagarkurnool, Telangana, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (PTI Photo)
- Nagarkurnool
(Telangana) — The
search operation to locate seven persons trapped inside the partially collapsed
Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) since February 22 gathered pace with teams and
equipment going inside the tunnel on Sunday, official sources said.
-
- An autonomous hydraulic-powered robot is being used to
remove soil, along with equipment such as a 30 HP capacity liquid ring vacuum
pump and a vacuum tank machine, which facilitate the quick removal of soil and
other debris inside the tunnel, accelerating the search operation, an official
release said on Saturday.
-
- Approximately 620 cubic meters of soil and muck can be
removed from the tunnel per hour using a conveyor belt, it added.
-
- Teams from the Army, National Disaster Response Force, State
Disaster Response Force, human remains detection dogs (HRDD), state-run miner
Singareni Collieries, a Hyderabad-based robotics company, and other agencies
have been actively involved in the mission.
-
- The search operation has been ongoing round-the-clock,
including de-watering efforts.
-
- The body of Gurpreet Singh, who worked as a Tunnel Boring
Machine (TBM) operator, was recovered on March 9 and handed over to his family
members in Punjab.
-
- Apart from Gurpreet Singh, the seven others still trapped
include Manoj Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Sunny Singh (Jammu & Kashmir),
Gurpreet Singh (Punjab), and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, and Anuj Sahu, all from
Jharkhand.
