Why the rescue of 8 men trapped in the Telangana tunnel is a daunting task

The first step in the rescue will be “dewatering” or pumping out water from the tunnel, the official said. For this, two pumps with horsepower of 100 and 70 have been brought to the spot. Once the water is drained, the next task at hand is to use the conveyor belt used for excavation to send people about 9 kilometres into the tunnel.

“The rest of the area will be covered by drones so that we do not risk the personnel who go in,” the senior rescue official who spoke to The Indian Express explained. The eight workers are believed to be trapped after 13.5 kilometres into the tunnel. The diameter of the tunnel is 9.5 feet. “It is a big enough tunnel so we can send in people if we ascertain that it is safe,” the official said.

However, drilling from above to reach the workers is a near-impossible option, another official told The Indian Express. “Thick rock sheets above the head of the tunnel structure mean rescuers have ruled out the possibility of drilling from the top to reach the location of the collapse,” a senior official said.

Visuals of the collapsed portion of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel, in which at least eight workers are feared trapped. (Photo: SDRF/ANI)

To add to this, there were two collapses inside the tunnel, rescuers said. “There were 50 people in total in the tunnel. When the first collapse happened and 42 people were retreating, about 150 metres away, there was another collapse. So the overall stability of the tunnel has to be assessed by the engineering team,” the rescuer said.

The trapped workers have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sandeep Sahu, Jagta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu from Jharkhand, Sunny Singh from Jammu and Kashmir, and Gurpreet Singh from Punjab. “There is a 15-metre working area between the rock which has collapsed and the tunnel boring machine. They are stuck there,” an official told The Indian Express.

Authorities confirmed that the ventilation system inside the tunnel remains functional, ensuring oxygen supply to the trapped workers. Ambulances and medical teams have been placed on high alert, with doctors ready to provide emergency care.