HYDERABAD: Even after 30 days, officials remain unable to locate the seven workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel. A total of eight workers were trapped after a slab of the tunnel collapsed on February 22.
Rescue operations have been continuing in full swing without any breaks. On Sunday, officials intensified efforts to trace the remaining workers. The body of tunnel boring machine operator Gurpreet Singh was recovered on March 9. Since then, rescue operations have continued with increased vigour to locate the other seven persons.
Nagarkurnool District Collector B Santosh stated that dewatering and digging operations at D1 and D2 locations were ongoing without pause.
Officials continue digging at spots identified by the sniffer dogs. In hazardous areas near the tunnel boring machine, robotic technology is being deployed for safety reasons.
The authorities remain hopeful of making progress in the coming days. Multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF, SCCL, Anvi Robotics and other teams are actively engaged in the rescue operations.