BRS leader demands accountability for SLBC tunnel collapse, says Telangana got should take help from international agencies if required

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 23 (ANI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Ravula Sridhar Reddy on Sunday demanded accountability from the Telangana government for the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapse incident saying that the State government should take help from any international agencies if required, and that the departments should have taken preventative measures for the tunnel project.
The BRS leader alleged that there were problems earlier in the tunnel too with water leaking in, showing the lack of preventative measures.
"Whether it is NDRF, SDRF, if it is required the government must take support from the technical experts from international agencies, they should ensure that those stuck in the area should be safe and brought (out) alive, because this is not the time to discuss politics. Earlier also such instance happened; seepage happened, water came in, but the irrigation department said they have taken enough measures but this incident shows a clear gap," the BRS leader told ANI.
Demanding accountability from the state government, he urged them to take whatever measures possible to ensure the safe return of the trapped workers.
"Telangana state government should take the responsibility for the tragic incident which happened in the SLBC tunnel because when the work started they should have taken precautions so that this should not have occurred. "Unfortunately, eight employees, technical and non technical staff are trapped in the particular area," he said.
"Though they (government) has ensured proper oxygen supply but till now there is no breakthrough in the rescue efforts. Till now with the information we have received, the NDRF and SDRF when they started the rescue measures, could not reach the accident site. They had to stop 2 kms before, but the government should have taken enough preventative measures," the BRS leader added.
The trapped workers included Manoj Kumar (Project Engineer) from Uttar Pradesh, Srinivas (Field Engineer) from Uttar Pradesh, Sandeep Sahu (Worker) from Jharkhand, Jataks (Worker) from Jharkhand, Santosh Sahu (Worker) from Jharkhand, Anuj Sahu (Worker) from Jharkhand, Sunny Singh (Worker) from Jammu & Kashmir, and Gurpreet Singh (Worker) from Punjab.
On Saturday morning, a three-meter section of the roof of an under-construction stretch of the SLBC tunnel collapsed at the 14 km mark near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district, Telangana. The collapse occurred just four days after construction work had resumed following a lengthy hiatus. While some workers managed to escape, the eight remained trapped. (ANI)