Nagarkurnool, Telangana, Feb 28: The South Central Railway (SCR) has joined the rescue efforts to locate eight workers trapped inside the collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel for the past six days. Equipped with specialized tools, the railway team is assisting in clearing iron and steel debris obstructing the operation, a senior official confirmed on Friday.
SCR Chief Public Relations Officer A. Sridhar stated that the district collector of Nagarkurnool requested the railway’s intervention to expedite debris removal. Responding swiftly, SCR deployed two expert teams equipped with high-precision metal-cutting machinery, including plasma cutters and Brocho cutting machines.
The first team, led by Divisional Mechanical Engineer S. Murali, comprises a senior section engineer, 13 welders, and two technicians from Secunderabad. They arrived at the site and began operations immediately. Another batch of experts followed suit, reinforcing the efforts on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Nagarkurnool Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad reported that continuous debris clearance and dewatering operations are in progress. "One team entered the tunnel at 7 AM today. The clearing process has been ongoing since yesterday morning," he said.
Telangana’s Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy reassured that rescue operations are in full swing, with expectations of completion within two days. The strategy involves cutting the trapped Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) into pieces using gas cutters, enabling further access. Additionally, personnel from the Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and specialized Rat Miners are actively participating in the rescue while ensuring safety measures.
The collapse, which occurred on February 22, trapped eight workers inside the under-construction SLBC tunnel. The missing individuals have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh from Jammu & Kashmir, Gurpreet Singh from Punjab, and four laborers from Jharkhand—Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu, and Anuj Sahau.
Among them, two are engineers, two are operators, and the rest are laborers employed by Jaiprakash Associates, the project's contracting firm.
Rescue teams continue to work tirelessly to bring the trapped workers to safety as hopes remain high for their retrieval in the coming days.
