Telangana minister Jupally Krishna Rao on Friday said there are no chances of survival of the eight trapped men in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel, even as scientists of the National Geophysical Research Institute have taken images to pinpoint the locations of the workers.
Using a ground penetrating radar (GPR), scientists of the National Geophysical Research Institute have taken images to pinpoint the locations of the eight workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel in Nagarkurnool.
Meanwhile, the district collector B Santosh said that no bodies had been found so far, and the rescue operations were still going on as workers were busy cutting out the metal debris and taking out the silt.
Earlier in the day, state tourism minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who hails from Nagarkurnool and was camping there for the past week, said, “unless something miraculous happens, there is no chance of the trapped workers surviving in the SLBC tunnel.”
However, collector B Santosh said no bodies have been found so far.
“The rescue operation is continuing. So whatever news is being spread is fake.”
The NGRI scientists today took images of the sludge and debris to pinpoint the location of the trapped men with the help of a GPR machine. Unconfirmed sources suggested that some “anomalies” were found under the sludge in the images, indicating the presence of human bodies. But the findings were foolproof.
The chairman and managing director of Singareni Collieries Balram Naik said it would take at least one week to clear all the debris including the damaged tunnel boring machine, gravel and sludge.
There is also water-logging for two kilometers. For the next two days, the metals will be cut out and sludge will be cleared. Around 250 workers of Singareni Collieries have been pressed into service to remove the sludge from the tunnel.