Rescue operations are underway in full force at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel near Domalpenta in Telangana, where a part of the tunnel caved in on Saturday, trapping eight workers inside. Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and other rescue teams have ventured into the tunnel to perform the rescue operation. Indian Army’s Engineer Task Force (ETF) has also been sent to aid the ongoing process.
#WATCH | Nagarkurnool, Telangana: NDRF personnel and other rescue teams enter the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel near Domalpenta after it collapsed yesterday. At least eight workers are feared trapped.
Indian Army’s Engineer Task Force (ETF) has also been mobilised to… pic.twitter.com/TveaZC8Rci
— ANI (@ANI) February 22, 2025
Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who visited the accident spot in Nagarkurnool district, some 150 km from Hyderabad, said that the government was employing the services of experts, including those who had rescued workers in a similar accident at Uttarakhand last year. He assured that Indian Army and NDRF personnel have been deployed to expedite the operation.
Details of the Incident
The mishap occurred when a part of the under-construction SLBC tunnel collapsed, trapping eight workers. Two of the trapped workers were engineers from an infrastructure company, two were operators from an American company, and four were laborers. The workers were from different states such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Jammu & Kashmir. Fresh air is being supplied to the tunnel to keep them alive, sources confirmed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi contacted Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, asking about the incident and offering complete support from the central government for the rescue operations. An Army team is also on its way to the site to bolster the rescue efforts.
The SLBC construction work had been resumed very recently at the SLBC project site, and there were about 50 workers in the tunnel together with a 200-meter-long tunnel boring machine on the fateful day during their working hours. In fulfillment of the work under the project, the employees had traveled approximately 13.5 km down the tunnel before the roof unexpectedly collapsed. Although 42 workers could escape and scampered towards the exit, eight people, among them two engineers in front of the machine, became trapped.
The Great Rescue Mission
Rescue efforts are found to be very taxing as the collapsed structure is complicated. Trapped people are located about 14 km deep within the tunnel. Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy confirmed that the workers inside heard a deafening noise and felt a geological upheaval before the tunnel section collapsed. The government is doing its best to rescue those still trapped within, in close coordination with professionals who were instrumental in such rescue operations.
NDRF and SDRF teams reached the site on time. The path up to the 13th km within the tunnel is safe, but after that, the collapse at the 14th km point has created difficulty in rescue operations. Drones are being used to survey the debris and guide the teams that are moving within the tunnel. Government officials reported that although the path is largely open to a point, the overall structural integrity of the tunnel is still in question.
Government and Expert Response
Chief Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy updated Prime Minister Modi on the situation, telling him that state ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jupally Krishna Rao are on the spot, closely observing the rescue operations.
Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) Chairman and Managing Director N Balram has confirmed that a 19-member rescue team of the coal mining company had been sent to aid in the rescue operation. The SCCL team, headed by a general manager-level officer, is an expert in rescuing people trapped in underground collapses and has the equipment required to aid the operation.
Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy was concerned about the accident and asked why the collapse had taken place. He ordered officials to give top priority to rescuing those trapped safely and to take injured workers to the hospital.
In the meantime, Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy set forth the importance of the SLBC tunnel project, categorizing it as the “world’s longest tunnel at 44 km.” The project seeks to divert water from the Srisailam project into irrigating more than four lakh acres of land in the Nalgonda district. He avowed that around 9.5 km of work is left on the tunnel.
Ongoing Rescue Efforts
As the rescue operation goes on, teams work day and night to access the trapped workers. The largest issue is that the site of collapse has a high level of debris, and therefore, teams have not been able to reach the precise location of the trapped workers.
“A massive amount of slush is accumulating on the accident site, hence rescue personnel are going in via drones to identify possible hazards while advancing. Rescue work will also be done for the night,” said sources in PTI. The officials remain hopeful but prudent since the scenario inside the tube remains unstable.
The government has guaranteed that all measures will be taken to rescue the trapped laborers. CM Reddy remains keeping a close watch on the situation and ordered the officials to accelerate the process to get the workers safely out of the tunnel.
With several agencies such as the NDRF, SDRF, SCCL, and the Indian Army working around the clock, authorities are confident that the people trapped will be rescued safely. More updates about the rescue effort are likely as the process goes on throughout the night.
