Telangana tunnel collapse: Damaged conveyor belt made operational

The conveyor belt at the partially collapsed SLBC (Srisailam Left Bank Canal) tunnel, under which eight workers have been trapped for the past 11 days, was repaired and made operational on Tuesday. It will now make it easier for rescue personnel to shift muck and about 800 tonne of debris can be brought out per hour, officials said. The conveyor belt was damaged following the accident on 22 February.

Observing that drilling was underway at places identified for human presence by ground penetrating radar (GPR), the officials said plans are on to quickly shift the debris out using the conveyor belt. The representatives of the National Centre for Seismology in Delhi also joined the rescue efforts, they said.

The rescue operation was going on at a rapid pace. The process of removing debris and dewatering was underway, they said.

State special chief secretary (disaster management) Arvind Kumar and Nagarkurnool district collector Badavath Santhosh held a meeting on Tuesday with the officials of NDRF, Army, South Central Railway, rat miners and other agencies involved in the rescue operation.

They discussed the progress of the operation and improving coordination among rescue teams.

The officials further said the last parts of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) would be cut using a gas cutter and that those trapped would be brought out of the tunnel in a loco train.

Meanwhile, a team of South Central Railway (SCR) comprising metal cutting experts cut the platform of the damaged TBM inside the tunnel, an SCR official said on Tuesday.

Nagarkurnool district superintendent of police Vaibhav Gaikwad said on Monday evening that the government is exploring the option of deploying robots in the rescue operation to prevent any threat to the rescue personnel.

Eight persons — engineers and workers — have been trapped in the SLBC project tunnel since 22 February and experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy and other agencies are making relentless efforts to pull them out to safety.

Chief minister A. Revanth Reddy, who visited the tunnel on Sunday, suggested to the officials leading the rescue operation to use robots inside the tunnel if necessary, to avoid any danger to the rescue personnel.

He had also said the rescue operations would gain momentum once the damaged conveyor belt is repaired.