SCR teams deployed to remove metal debris from tunnel accident site
Special cutting machines brought in by the engineering division of the South Central Railway (SCR) for cutting thick metals were taken inside the tunnel for the task.
Eleven days after the accident at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in the Nagarkurnool district of Telangana, the conveyor belt was finally made operational Tuesday morning, expediting the ongoing rescue work.
The non-operational conveyor belt had made silt and debris removal from the accident site difficult since it is almost 14 km inside the tunnel.
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The conveyor belt speeded up rescue work considerably as nearly 800 tons of silt were being removed every hour. The South-Central Railway’s team was also using the plasma cutters to remove the mechanical debris. They were able to cut through the tunnel boring machine that had been blocking the accident site.
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“The rescue work will speed up with the use of excavators and the conveyor belt. We are working on three shifts daily,” said Vaibhav Gaikwad, the Superintendent of Police of Nagarkurnool. Singareni Collieries workers, rat miners, NDRF, and SDRF have been working together to complete the rescue work.
However, the rescue workers have been unable to trace the eight trapped men.
According to a worker, they are now digging at the spot indicated by the National Geophysical Research Institute after taking images with sophisticated Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR).
The authorities are also considering using robots for rescue work since the water and silt have made the task difficult.
According to irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, the accident site was one of the most difficult, and hence, the rescue operation turned out to be a complex one with eleven agencies called in to take up the task.
The accident took place on 22 February, and although 70 workers were at the site, all but eight were able to come out. The eight men are suspected to be trapped under the debris of the damaged TBM Machine and the deposited silt.
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