Telangana CM Revanth Reddy visits SLBC tunnel, reviews rescue work with agencies

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy updates on the rescue efforts for eight trapped persons in Srisailam tunnel.

HYDERABAD

The exact whereabouts of the eight persons trapped under the debris, about 14 km inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel, is not known precisely even to the rescue agencies due to the very high thick sheet of over 5-metre-deep mud and it would be taking another 2 or 3 days to locate them, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has said.

Speaking to newspersons at the base office of the work agency at the tunnel mouth near Domalapenta village on Sunday night after reviewing the rescue work with the agencies involved in it and visiting the tunnel, the Chief Minister said the possible location of persons trapped was only a primary assessment and it was not possible for the government to make any announcement on their condition sans any evidence.

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The ground probing radar (GPR) scanning conducted by the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) had only identified possible spots of those who went missing ( are trapped) in the tunnel and they could be correct or not as no trapped person was found at a couple of locations suggested by it even after the muck was removed. Some parts of machinery were found there, instead.

He, however, assured the families of those trapped inside that the Telangana government would extend all possible help to them. But, it was not humane on part of the government to make any announcement before finding those trapped inside as the rescue agencies had also stopped short of giving conclusions about the possibilities of their survival.

Turning to the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that the party was acting most inhumanely in the face of a natural disaster that was caused by their negligence of the project work for 10 years. He alleged that the BRS government in the past did not complete even 2 to 3 km length of the tunnel excavation during 2014-23.