Hyderabad Tunnel Collapse: Desperate Rescue Efforts Underway
Hyderabad:
Rescue teams are racing against time to save eight workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district. The accident occurred yesterday while the workers were inside fixing a leak. As exclusive footage accessed by NDTV reveals, rescuers are calling out their names, hoping for any response that could confirm they are still safe.
Desperate Attempts to Make Contact
So far, there has been no direct communication with the trapped workers. Yesterday, the tunnel’s inner communication system failed and complicated the situation further. Now rescuers are issuing calls and names, waiting for a response that may help them determine their location and status.
The collapsed part is part of an approximately 44-km long tunnel, currently being constructed as part of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) irrigation scheme, that supplies water to Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda districts. The project is carried out by the Jaypee Associated Group. While many workers managed to escape when the collapse happened, eight of them remained stuck inside near a tunnel-boring machine.
Mangled Debris and Unstable Conditions Pose Challenges
Due to the difficulty of rescue operations because the 200-300 m deep tunnel fills with water with swaths of debris, there is an excruciating time, difficulty, and effort involved in wading through this FEMA technology to aid in rescue efforts needed now. Authorities have reported earth cracks in the tunnel walls with injections of water taking the situation in an entirely new direction.
Videos taken from the site indicate that personnel are moving around the *distressed” infrastructure, inspecting pumping stations and determining the scale of damage required to plan future work. However, the noises of shifting boulders indicate that the tunnel roof remains highly unstable, adding to the risks for rescue teams.
High-Level Rescue Operations Underway
Authorities have set into operation the best rescue agencies, such as four teams of the *National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), alongside the local disaster rescue forces already at work. A tunnel-boring machine is also being brought in to speed up the rescue operation. Personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, both at the state and central level for monitoring the situation.
Government Steps In
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has assumed the responsibility of managing the rescue operation. Yesterday, the Minister of Irrigation N Uttam Kumar, the State Adviser (Irrigation) Adityanath Das, and Chief Minister’s Adviser Vem Narender Reddy presented him with the current status.
The Chief Minister has also ordered officials to, ” speed up rescue operations and provide all the support which may be required to the affected workers and their families. As well, he instructed all departments to remain in high alert and to offer full support to rescue crews at ground level.
A Race Against Time
With the approach of evening and the limited time, all possibilities are being explored to attempt to secure the captured workers before circumstances become worse. The next few hours will decide if they can be extracted safely. The country as a whole awaits with baited breath, praying for a successful operation and for the safe return of the bewildered operatives.
