Hyderabad: More than three days after the collapse of an irrigation tunnel meant to connect to the Srisailam reservoir in Telangana, a dozen rescue teams are still attempting to save the lives of the eight trapped inside.
Among those at the site was Chris Cooper, team leader of engineering conglomerate L&T Construction. Cooper had handled the rescue operation at the Silkyara tunnel which collapsed in Uttarkashi in 2023. The “rat-hole miners” who were part of the rescue team at Silkyara were also present here. Forty one men had been saved.
The latest operation to rescue eight persons, including two engineers, has continued since the afternoon of February 22 near Domalapenta village of Amrabad mandal in Nagarkurnool district. As many as 42 workers scrambled to safety while eight others were trapped in the under-construction tunnel when a section of its roof collapsed. Underneath it, a tunnel-boring machine (TBM) had been at work.
The collapse happened with a thunderous noise at around 8.30 am on February 22. Cracks developed nearby. There was a sudden upsurge in the seepage of water from the roof. Forty two workers who were working ahead of the TBM towards the blocked outlet of the tunnel ran in panic as water and mud engulfed the area, as if sprayed from a cannon. Those who were positioned close to the TBM have been stuck since then.
A dozen agencies and 600 people are involved in the rescue operation, including teams from the Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute, the Geological Survey of India, Singareni Collieries Company Limited, police, fire services, L&T Construction, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, Navayuga Engineering, Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency and the rat-hole miners.
Rescue teams entering the tunnel of Srisailam left bank canal on February 25. Photo: By arrangement.
They are equipped with drones, cutters and welding machines to make their way through the huge mass of wrenched steel and construction material near the TBM. Flooding, which has caused heavy slushing, has hindered their progress.
The chief engineer of irrigation at Nalgonda, V. Ajay Kumar, told The Wire from the site that they were engaged in planning their next move.
Meanwhile, state tourism minister Jupally Krishna Rao who went with the rescue team inside the tunnel for nearly six kilometres on February 23 spoke to reporters of a grim predicament.
Survivors said the shear zone that is at the top of the earth’s crust caved in seconds before TBM operator Glenn Monold, the site manager of US-based Robbins Company which is executing the project, jumped from the TBM and shouted a warning.
Mould had seen the seepage of water. “Then, the roof came down as if an overhead water tank had collapsed,” said one of the survivors, Salahuddin.
He said water came gushing towards the workers in no time and they had to climb up the conveyor belt to come out of the tunnel. He added that those who had been closest to the TBM were not seen anymore.
They included engineers Manoj KUmar and Srinivas who were both from Uttar Pradesh and four workers Sandeep Sahu, Santosh Sahu, Anuj Sahu and Jataks from Jharkhand. All of them were employed by the contracting agency Jaiprakash Associates. Two operators of Robbins India, Sunny Singh (from Jammu and Kashmir) and Gurpreet Singh (from Punjab), are also trapped.
A planning board depicting the accident site at Srisailam Left Bank Canal on Tuesday, February 25. Photo: By arrangement.
Authorities had to engage a 500-kva generator and a 100-hp pump to flush out the water. A crane with a capacity of 14 tonnes is being used to excavate mud. Oxygen has been continuously supplied into the tunnel, the final 40 metres of which is completely under water.
The police also deployed sniffer dogs to trace the survivors but they were withdrawn due to heavy water logging. The authorities called out the names of those trapped by shouting at the top of their voice but to no avail.
On Tuesday (today), the entire area was closed for media personnel as the teams gathered at the site with maps. Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and his cabinet colleagues Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Krishna Rao were also present.
The tunnel project involved two TBMs of 10-metre diameter, operating in an extremely abrasive rock area which needed to be cut for 43.5 kms from the foreshore of the Srisailam reservoir. The geological challenges faced in excavation has disrupted the project several times since work commenced in 2006.
After missing six deadlines, work resumed again on February 18 with Robbins Company, which specialises in tunnel boring projects. Currently, a 20.5-km stretch is ready at one end and another 14 kms, at the other end. The remaining 9.5 kms in the middle have posed the challenge.
The project was envisaged to supply 30,00- million-cubic-feet water to about four lakh acres of crop and flouride-hit areas of erstwhile Nalgonda district.
