Telangana SLBC tunnel rescue Day 7 highlights: Hundreds of tons of slush cleared manually, dewatering almost complete

Huge quantity of iron and steel along with slush is being brought out by SCR and SCCL workers

Nagarkurnool district collector Badavath Santosh, SP Vaibhav Gaikwad, senior officials along with heads of various organisations held a review meeting on the rescue efforts underway at Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

• February 28, 2025 21:01

  Collector terms info on social media about deadbodies found in tunnel as fake news

  Referring to news spreading on social media that dead bodies were found in SLBC tunnel, Nagarkurnool collector Badavath Santhosh said that it is fake news. The rescue efforts are continuing to trace the people trapped.

• February 28, 2025 19:09

  Pace of rescue efforts increased: Nagarkurnool DC Badvath Santosh

  Nagarkurnool district collector Badavath Santosh said, “The pace of rescue efforts was increased: water accumulated at the mishap site is being removed, debris is being cleared using plasma gas cutters. Efforts are being put in to restore the dysfunctional conveyor belt.”

  “Excavators were kept ready to remove slush. Cameras and sensors are being used to constantly monitor the situation,” he added.

• February 28, 2025 19:05

  Equipment being taken in locomotive train

  Equipment to be used in rescue work at the SLBC tunnel being taken in a locomotive train.

  equipment.jpg

  equipment 2.jpg

• February 28, 2025 19:05

  Nagarkurnool collector Badavath Santosh and Vaibhav Gaikwad at the site

  Nagarkurnool district collector Badavath Santosh, SP Vaibhav Gaikwad, senior officials along with heads of various organisations held a review meeting on the rescue efforts underway at Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel.

  Nagarkurnool collector Badavarh Santosh and Vaibhav Gaikwad.jpg

• February 28, 2025 15:59

  South Central Railway joins rescue teams with metal cutters

  South Central Railway has joined the rescue teams that are engaged in locating the eight persons who remain trapped in the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel for the past six days, with necessary equipment, a senior official said on Friday.

  Railways has the expertise in cutting heavy metals using equipment such as plasma cutter and Brocho cutting machine, South Central Railway (SCR) Chief Public Relations officer A Sridhar said.

  “District Collector, Nagar Kurnool sought the help of South Central Railway in rescue operation by clearing iron and steel debris that have been hindering the rescue works at the site,” A Sridhar told PTI. - PTI

• February 28, 2025 15:41

  70-100 people are deployed in rescue operation in one shift: NDRF

• February 28, 2025 14:11

  South Central Railway personnel involved in clearing debris

  SCR.jpg

  Huge quantity of iron and steel along with slush is being brought out by SCR and SCCL workers.

  Read more here

• February 28, 2025 13:16

  Slush and debris being cleared

  On Friday (February 28, 2025), the rescue teams had made a lot of headway with removal of hundreds of tonnes of slush manually and dewatering almost complete. Huge quantity of iron and steel along with slush is being brought out by SCR and SCCL workers.

  Read more here

• February 28, 2025 12:43

  Level of water, slush indicated on a board

• February 28, 2025 12:21

  Telangana Govt now looks at extension to SLBC tunnel as alternative to prevent similar mishaps

  As the rescue operation to trace the eight missing personnel inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool continues for the seventh consecutive day, the Telangana Government has now started focussing its attention on taking up an alternative tunnel in extension to the existing one so that there are alternative entry or exit options. This was mulled to meet any eventuality in the future.

  Read more here

• February 28, 2025 11:27

  Rescue works continue

• February 28, 2025 10:01

  Rescue teams take up debris removal in last 50-metre stretch of SLBC tunnel

  The rescue teams taking part in the exercise to trace the eight persons including two each of engineers and technical staff and four workers trapped about 14 km inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool district of Telangana have, at last, succeeded in reaching the last 50 metres from the spot of collapse on Thursday and commenced muck removal work.

  However, they found the tunnel completely plugged with debris such as soil, small boulders, and broken parts of the supporting system of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) as there was no gap left between the debris and the tunnel roof.

  Read the full story here

  

  Telangana SLBC tunnel rescue: Rescue teams take up debris removal in last 50-metre stretch of tunnel

  Rescue teams work to remove debris in Srisailam tunnel to reach trapped persons, facing challenges for survival.

• February 28, 2025 09:40

  We have engaged India’s best experts and don’t need your expertise, Uttam tells Harish Rao

  Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy slammed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T. Harish Rao saying the government doesn’t need his ‘unprofessional’ advice as professionals with expertise 1,000 times higher than him were handling the situation at the SLBC tunnel accident site.

  “Does Mr. Harish Rao consider himself more knowledgeable than the top tunnel engineers engaged by the government? Is he trying to insult the Indian Army, Navy commandos, BRO teams and other experts who are risking their lives in this rescue?” he questioned. Terming the BRS leaders’ visit to the accident site as an effort to get publicity in the media, the Minister pointed out that during the Srisailam Left Bank Power Station blast, where nine workers lost their lives, no BRS leader even visited the site. He recalled that when Revanth Reddy (then Congress leader) tried to visit the victims, he was arrested and taken to a police station.

  Read the full story here

  

  We have engaged India’s best experts and don’t need your expertise, Uttam tells Harish Rao

  Irrigation Minister criticizes BRS MLA for unprofessional advice, questions their track record in completing irrigation projects in Telangana.

• February 28, 2025 09:24

  Harish Rao visits SLBC accident site, blames govt. for accident

  A delegation of the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) visited the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel on Thursday and alleged that the Congress government is blaming the previous BRS rule for the present incident.

  Led by former minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao, the delegation was not allowed by the police initially but after a brief protest, 10 members were allowed go inside the tunnel.

  Speaking at the tunnel, Mr. Harish Rao alleged that they did not visit the site for five days with an intention not to disturb the rescue work. The government had no proper plan and had failed to give proper directions to the rescue teams.

  Read the full story here

  

  Harish Rao visits SLBC accident site, blames govt. for accident

  Opposition BRS delegation criticizes Congress government's handling of Srisailam tunnel incident, highlighting lack of rescue efforts and planning.

• February 28, 2025 08:25

  SCR team brings Ultra thermos cutter to slice through metal debris hindering rescue work

  The rescue operation to trace the missing eight personnel deep inside the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool gained momentum with South Central Railway (SCR) team bringing advanced cutters to clear the debris and the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) unit also joining the efforts on Thursday (February 27, 2025). The debris, including steel and iron, hindered the rescue work in the past few days.

  A day after the joint team of Border Roads Organisation (BRO), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Army personnel inspected the last point inside the collapsed tunnel to get first hand assessment of the situation, state-of-the-art machines were pressed into service this morning.

  Read the full story here

  

  Telangana SLBC tunnel rescue: SCR team brings Ultra thermos cutter to slice through metal debris

  Telangana tunnel collapse: Rescue operation in Telangana SLBC tunnel gains momentum with advanced cutters brought in by SCR, and NGRI joining efforts.

• February 28, 2025 07:47

  Rescue teams find debris completely plugged last 50 metres of SLBC tunnel

  The rescue teams taking part in the exercise to trace the eight persons trapped about 14 km inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool district of Telangana have succeeded in reaching the last 50 metres from the spot of collapse on Thursday (February 27, 2025). The eight people trapped includes two engineers, two technical staff and four workers.

  Read the full story here

  

  Telangana tunnel rescue day 6: Rescue teams find debris completely plugged last 50 metres of SLBC tunnel

  Rescue teams struggle to reach trapped persons in debris-filled Telangana SLBC tunnel, now focus is on removing the debris

Published - February 28, 2025