Telangana tunnel collapse: BJP leader says rescue of workers priority now, will seek probe into incident

Nagarkurnool (Telangana) [India], February 23 (ANI): BJP leader N Ramchander Rao on Sunday said that the priority is to promptly rescue the workers who are feared trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool and urged for an investigation to find out those responsible for the accident.
Praising the Bharatiya Janata Party ministers "prompt" reaction to send National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to aid in the rescue operations at the SLBC tunnel, Rao said BJP also agrees with the Telangana administration to promptly rescue the workers .
"The SLBC tunnel collapsing is an unfortunate incident, many people are stuck. But however, whatever may be the reasons they will now come out only after detailed inquiries. Meanwhile, The BJP ministers were prompt to inform the NDRF and also other central agencies to come for rescue operations, at this stage the rescue operation, saving lives of innocent workers is the primary object," Rao told ANI.
Underlining the importance to rescue the workers, the BJP leader added, "After the report comes, what are the main reasons, whoever is responsible, then I think the BJP will make a political statement on it, as of now we are with the administration to save the lives of the people."
Earlier, Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the SLBC tunnel project is atleast 20 years old, and that it was suspected that a crack in the tunnel appeared, from which water started leaking out, flooding the area.
"The SLBC tunnel project is a very old project which started 20 years back...Due to various impediments, the project is going very slowly, but when completed, the project is considered to be a boon for Telangana. When this incident took place, I was informed that due to a crack in the geological line, water started coming inside, but nobody took it seriously," the Telangana minister said.
"The American company project manager told me that he thought it was like a normal development and was going ahead with it. Then the small crack became bigger till water and mud rushed into the tunnel at once in a big way," he added.
According to the minister, around 70-80 people were working during the incident, and atleast eight people are feared trapped on the other side.
Lok Sabha LoP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to discuss the ongoing rescue operations at the tunnel. Rahul Gandhi appreciated the action taken along with the constant vigil and monitoring; and asked the government to leave no stone unturned to try to save the trapped workers.
Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy's office also shared updates on the rescue operations, with the officials of NDRF and SDRF calling on the workers to hear any reply from them. The officials however have not yet been able to confirm the location of the workers who are feared trapped in there.
The officials shouted the names of Manoj, Srinivas, Dwivedi, some of the workers who are feared trapped. The video also showed some water flowing in the tunnel, which the rescue officials are trying to drain out too.

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.
Sukhendu, NDRF Deputy Commander earlier today said that the first team of the NDRF had reached the site at 7 pm yesterday. NDRF had returned from the SLBC tunnel yesterday after four hours covering 11 km on a locomotive and from there took the conveyer belt to walk the remaining two km inside the tunnel.
At the end of the TMV (Tunnel Boring Machine), the team could not move forward as it is filled with water. They tried to establish contact with the trapped workers by calling out their names, but said could not find anything.
The NDRF Deputy Commander said that that a 200 metre patch is filled with debris and unless it is cleared the exact location of the trapper workers cannot be ascertained. (ANI)