No trace yet of seven persons still trapped under the SLBC tunnel debris, despite 24×7 work

Rescue teams working in 3 shifts a day to trace the remaining 7 persons trapped under the debris in the SLBC tunnel near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement

HYDERABAD

There was no trace yet of the seven remaining persons trapped under the debris about 14 km inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel despite round-the-clock excavation of debris being in progress between the D1 and D2 points identified by the cadaver sniffer dog squad from Kerala on the 26^th day of rescue operations on Wednesday.

The multi-agency teams engaged in the rescue operation are focussing on digging deeper into the debris that is filled up to 9 metres of the tunnel with a diameter of 9.2 metres with the help of excavators. The debris excavation work is being taken up carefully as it contains metal parts of the tunnel boring machine and electrical cables.

According to the officials monitoring the rescue operation, the rescue teams were using water jets to expose the buried metal parts of the TBM and its support system (machinery) to facilitate the technicians from the South Central Railway to cut them into pieces with the help of gas cutters so that they could be shifted out of the tunnel after being loaded into the loco-trolleys.

Continuous dewatering operation was also going on, particularly between D1 and D2 points where the excavation work to trace the remaining seven trapped was on, to ensure safe excavation process and prevent water accumulation and logging. The muck being formed with the use of water jets was also being shifted out of the tunnel with the help of excavators by loading it onto the conveyor belt along with other debris in the tunnel except metal parts.

The officials stated that the electrical cables exposed during the digging work along with metal parts were being cut into pieces for shifting them out of the tunnel. The rescue teams have also installed 10 surveillance cameras in the area behind D2.

Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar, District Collector of Nagarkurnool Santosh Badavath, Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad and team leaders of different rescue agencies reviewed the progress of excavation being done inside the tunnel.