Refusing to give up, rescuers continue search in SLBC tunnel
HYDERABAD: The laborious and the extremely demanding task of the continuing search for the missing workers in the disaster hit SLBC tunnel in Nagarkurnool district continued on Thursday, with officials saying they are making slow but certain progress till very near the end of the tunnel except the last 50 metres where conditions continue to remain unstable and remain hazardous for rescuers to work in.
With safety of the rescuers a high priority inside the tunnel, work is not being rushed through. Adding to the safety measures, mine rescue specialists from the Singareni Collieries have been adding timber buttresses in the sections of the tunnel where the structure is believed to have weakened when the collapse occurred on February 22. The timber supports, when used in coal mines, not only provide support to the roof, but also because of the noise they produce when under stress in the event of a cave in, provide some advance notice to workers to evacuate the area, giving them lead time to get to safety.
It may be recalled that when the collapse occurred, some ten sections of the supporting and tunnel sealing cement concrete sections too had crumbled while some more had moved from where they were fixed.
The work on digging of the trench has been completed and the cutting of the steel plate of the tunnel boring machine between two spots – D1 and D2 that indicate two locations from the end of the tunnel beyond the 50 metres caution zone, is in progress.
The two human remains detection dogs of the Kerala police were taken into the tunnel again today. “We are hoping that with the flow of water now channelised, the dogs will be able to better pick the spots in the silt where some of the missing workers may be without interference from the smells carried by the water that was the case in the past few days,” special chief secretary, disaster management, Arvind Kumar, who is supervising the multi-agency rescue work said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, work on prepping the autonomous rover that can possibly provide some clues in the last 50 metres is on, a representative of Anvi Robotics which is providing the service said. The robot is expected to be put to full use by day after tomorrow when it can not only begin its search and add to desilting efforts in the fragile portions of the tunnel.
The Vaddera stone cutters are expected to reach the tunnel site on Friday with two of their team leaders from Palamuru district arriving on Thursday and going into the tunnel to assess the conditions and prepare for the cutters adequately to begin their work in breaking large rocks and boulders that are hindering the debris and silt removal process.
Tunnelling can continue from Nalgonda side, says Ponnala
Former irrigation minister Ponnala Laxmaiah said that the work on the SLBC tunnel that ground to a halt following the February 22 accident in the inlet section of the tunnel in Nagarkurnool district, can be continued from the other end, the tunnel’s outlet section in Nalgonda district, once the rescue operations in the accident hit section are completed.
He said the rock through which the outlet section is being dug, was harder granite and would be safer to continue work. In the inlet section, 7.3 km needs to be dug, while in the outlet section, just around 2 km needs to be completed.
“Between these two, there is concern about the condition of the rocks in around a 200 metres stretch. Once work can be resumed, the tunneling can recommence from the Nalgonda district side and completed till the section of uncertainty is reached. In the meanwhile, experts can determine the safest way possible to complete the work, or find alternatives to join the two sections of the tunnel overcoming the unstable section,” he said.
