Telangana Tunnel Collapse: Search Operations Intensify For Seven Missing Workers

The search operation to locate seven individuals trapped inside the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel since February 22 has intensified, with specialized teams and advanced equipment deployed, official sources said on Sunday.

An autonomous hydraulic-powered robot is being used to remove soil, along with a 30 HP capacity liquid ring vacuum pump and a vacuum tank machine. These tools facilitate the rapid removal of soil and debris from inside the tunnel, accelerating the search efforts, an official release stated on Saturday.

Approximately 620 cubic meters of soil and muck can be extracted per hour using a conveyor belt, further enhancing the operation's efficiency.

Multiple teams, including personnel from the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and human remains detection dogs (HRDD), have been actively engaged in the mission. Additionally, experts from the state-run miner Singareni Collieries and a Hyderabad-based robotics company have been contributing to the rescue efforts.

The search operation has been running non-stop, including de-watering efforts, to clear the tunnel.

On March 9, the body of Gurpreet Singh, a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operator, was recovered and handed over to his family in Punjab.

The seven individuals still trapped inside include Manoj Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Sunny Singh (Jammu & Kashmir), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab), and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.

The eight workers-comprising engineers and laborers-became trapped in the SLBC project tunnel after a section of it collapsed on February 22.