Telangana : In Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district, an all-out search is on for the eight workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel, after the tunnel suffered a sudden collapse on Saturday morning. They are working round the clock to rescue them and have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for assistance who promised to help with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Trapped include sunny Singh (J&K) and Gurpreet Singh (Punjab), the two Indian engineers of the US-based tunneling firm The Robbins Company and six Jaiprakash Associates Ltd employees — Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas (UP), and construction workers Sandeep Sahu, Jagta Xess, Santosh Sahu, and Anuj Sahu (Jharkhand).
The disaster occurred while carrying out routine tunneling work when workers began to see water and mud enter. Just as they were about to respond there would be an earthquake; the wall would collapse and those ahead of the machine would be sealed in. Irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy continues to hope all eight people are safe.
Rescue experts, including specialists involved in last year’s Uttarakhand tunnel rescue are on standby. A team of NDRF with life-saving equipment is also expected soon.
