BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: At least four workers were reportedly trapped inside an under-construction railway tunnel at Adenigarh in Harbhanga block of Boudh district after rainwater entered the structure following four days of incessant rainfall.
Villagers said the four workers were engaged in construction work when rainwater entered the tunnel, trapping them inside on Saturday night. They were reportedly rescued in the wee hours of Sunday.
Boudh SP Kuldeep Meena said on being informed, a team from Harbhanga police station reached the spot. However, police did not find anyone inside the tunnel. The trapped workers had been rescued by then. “It took around 45 minutes for the police team to reach the tunnel. But there was nobody inside the tunnel when the team reached the spot,” he said.
Railway sources also denied that there was anybody inside the tunnel. Because of the continuous rains, no work was going on inside the tunnel and there was no worker inside, a railway official said and added that the construction work will resume after the rain stops.
“Owing to continuous heavy rainfall over the past 30 hours, water ingress has been observed at the Khurda end of Tunnel-4 near Adenigarh village. The rainwater is flowing through the tunnel’s side drains and is being safely discharged. However, there has been no damage to any machinery,” a railway release said.
Railway sources said construction agencies are closely monitoring the situation and are expected to begin dewatering and clearing operations once weather conditions improve.
Sources said there is a possibility of debris and silt accumulating inside the tunnel if the rain continues. The tunnel could face the risk of being filled with mud and loose earth due to runoff from the surrounding hillsides, which may delay the Khurda-Balangir railway project.
Notably, a similar incident took place last year when rainwater entered the same tunnel during the monsoon, triggering a partial collapse inside the under-construction structure. The previous incident had significantly delayed construction work and required extensive restoration measures before work could resume.