Stuck at last 40-metre stretch, rescuers battle silt, water

Top experts from the Army, Navy, NDRF, GSI and other agencies made relentless efforts on Tuesday to get a breakthrough in the collapsed SLBC tunnel rescue work amid threat to the lives of rescuers with the continuous flow of silt and water.

Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy cited experts, who described this as the most complex and difficult tunnel rescue operation in the world or at least in India “as there is only one entry or exit to the tunnel”.

He opined that the collapse might have taken place due to a slight tectonic shift and as some geological fault lines had given way. It is the fourth day since eight persons have been trapped in the partially collapsed tunnel.

“There is one problem. The flow of slit and water into the tunnel at a very high speed continues. Some experts feared that even the lives of the rescuers could be endangered. We are taking the best expert opinion and will take a final call on that,” he said.

Nagarkurnool District Collector B Santhosh said before taking any step forward, stability of the tunnel had been taken into consideration even as dewatering was going on. “As of now we are not able to communicate with the trapped persons. We are dewatering and going forward. But for the last 40-50 metres we are not able to go due to accumulation of muck and debris,” he said.

With additional support and equipment, the team had again gone inside, he said, adding “the strategy is to cross that 40-metre stretch and communicate with the people who are inside”.

The political slugfest over the accident continued as BRS working president KT Rama Rao sought a judicial probe into the incident, while Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy dismissed the demand, stating that this was not the time for politics.