"Will investigate this": Telangana minister Poonam Prabhakar on SLBC tunnel accident

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 22 (ANI): Telangana minister Poonam Prabhakar spoke to ANI and briefed about the SLBC tunnel accident. Prabhakar stated that the incident happened despite taking all the precautionary measures. He added that Minister Uttam Reddy is monitoriang all the work and stated that the ones who want to do politics on the incident, the public is watching them.
"In the accident that happened while working in the tunnel, Minister Uttam Reddy is sitting there and watching all the work. This is an accidental incident and this incident happened despite the government taking full security measures. We will investigate why this happened and we will take all precautions to prevent this from happening in the coming days, but whoever wants to do politics on this, the public is watching everything. What all happened during their time? If any officer has any role in this, we will take action against him", Poonam Prabhakar said.
He added that in the present time, we should think about how the people who are there in the accident shall recover and the government will provide all the support that is needed to recover the ones who are stuck in the accident.
"Today is the time for everyone to think together about the general public of Telangana and how to save the people trapped in the accident that happened. Our government is making every effort to help the people trapped there", he added.
Minister Uttam Reddy said, "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 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... there were about 70-80 people working at that time...8 people are trapped inside the tunnel. We have requested the services of the Indian army and of NDRF. Both have reached the site, and I'll be there early morning again to oversee the rescue operations. We are doing our best to save the lives of 8 people."
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also reacted on the tragic SLBC tunnel collapse incident. Rahul stated that he is deeply stressed after learning about the tunnel roof collapse in Telangana. He added that the state government along with the disaster relief teams are doing the rescue work to bring back those in danger.
Meanwhile, the Task Force of Indian Army has been mobilised to assist in the ongoing rescue operations following a tunnel collapse near the Srisailam Dam. Upon receiving a request from the Chief Secretary of Telangana, the Army quickly mobilised its Engineer Task Force (ETF) for the critical rescue operation. The ETF is equipped with specialist engineering teams, medical detachment from Field Ambulance of Army Medical Corps, along with an ambulance and three high-capacity pumping sets, armoured hoses, and other accessories.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy regarding the ongoing rescue efforts at the SLBC tunnel. The Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister of full assistance from the Central government in the rescue operations. (ANI)