Debris halts efforts to reach trapped workers
In a significant development, a team of experts engaged in res-cuing the eight people who have remained trapped for the past five days in the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel were able to reach the end of the tunnel and return, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
Hyderabad: In a significant development, a team of experts engaged in res-cuing the eight people who have remained trapped for the past five days in the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel were able to reach the end of the tunnel and return, a senior police official said on Wednesday. According to Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Indian Marine Commando Force (MARCOS) and the Border Roads Or-ganisation (BRO) have been roped in to aid the rescue of eight workers trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel.
The rescue teams working round the clock could reach up to 50 meters before the end of the tunnel only due to muck and debris. “A 20-member team comprising NDRF, SDRF and Rat Miners were able to reach the last points of the (tunnel). But there was a lot of debris. They are working out how to go about it,” he said. He asserted that the rescue would be completed within two days and that new strategies were being implemented to mitigate chal-lenges inside the tunnel. “We are also exploring alternate access routes, including approaching from the side and the main exit, to expedite the rescue,” One of the biggest challenges in the rescue effort has been the massive accumulation of muddy water ob-structing access to the TBM, Uttam said.
“One day before they were able to reach up to 40 meters and the team searched the location but could not find anything last night.
Replying to a query, he said the Geological Survey of India team which has collected samples is yet to submit its reports on soil strength and others.
Top experts from the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, GSI and other agencies who are making relentless efforts to find a breakthrough.
As sludge started solidifying inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel rescuers are planning to use sniffer dogs to locate those who got trapped.
They said they will take sniffer dogs inside the tunnel and will try to locate the trapped. According to officials, the team which reached the exact accident site last night tried to communicate with the trapped people but there was no response.
