Three injured workers were shifted to a hospital. The upper portion of the tunnel collapsed at the 14-kilometre point around 8.30 am. As many as 40 workers were inside the tunnel.
Published Feb 22, 2025 | 2:20 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 22, 2025 | 8:55 PM
Reports said a part of the tunnel collapsed after supporting rings had caved in. (File photo)
Synopsis: About 40 workers were at the site when the upper portion of the tunnel at the 14-kilometre point collapsed around 8.30 am on Saturday, 22 February.
Efforts are underway to rescue eight workers who were trapped after a part of the under-construction Srisailam Left Bank Canal’s tunnel collapsed near Domapenta in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district, some 120 km from Hyderabad, on Saturday, 22 February.
Initial reports said three grievously injured workers were shifted to a hospital.
The upper portion of the tunnel collapsed at the 14-kilometre point around 8.30 am. As many as 40 workers were inside the tunnel.
The part of the tunnel collapsed soon after the boring machine was operated. The power supply has been disrupted inside the tunnel.
Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jupally Krishna are at the scene, overseeing rescue operations. A rescue team from the Singareni Collieries Company, is also engaged in the operations.
Meanwhile, the army will join the rescue operations at night. SDRF and NRDF teams, too, would soon reach the scene.
Reports said the tunnel got flooded after the collapse. The water level is estimated at four feet.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said water started flowing into the tunnel from one side soon after the work began in the morning.
“Searching for those trapped has become difficult since it is dark inside. It seems that the water filled the tunnel and formed a slush,” he said.
Electric wires were snapped, plunging the tunnel into darkness.
Workers said they heard a loud noise a few moments before the collapse.
The minister said the state was also checking Operation Zindagi that rescued all 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Bend–Barkot tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand in November 2023. Multiple government agencies and domestic and international private resources were involved in the 17-day operation that employed the rat-hole mining method.
Of the 44-km Srisailam tunnel project, boring is pending in about 9.5 km.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi enquired about the tunnel collapse, and assured Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy the Centre’s full support to the Telangana government.
Revanth Reddy briefed the prime minister about the incident. Modi said an NDRF team would be deployed immediately for rescue operations.
The chief minister expressed shock over the incident. He directed the Collector, fire department, HYDRAA, and Irrigation Department operations to expedite the rescue and relief operations. He is monitoring the operations from Hyderabad.
Earlier, Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy flew down to the tunnel site by a helicopter.
Of the eight people trapped inside the tunnel, four hailed from Jharkhand. The minister identified the trapped people as Manoj Kumar (Project Engineer – Uttar Pradesh); Srinivas (Field Engineer – Uttar Pradesh); Sandeep Sahu (Worker – Jharkhand); Jatax (Worker – Jharkhand); Santosh Sahu (Worker – Jharkhand); Anuj Sahu (Worker – Jharkhand); Sunny Singh (Worker – Jammu & Kashmir); and Gurpreet Singh (Worker – Punjab).
The project was started in 2005 during the tenure of YS Rajasekhara Reddy in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. It came to a halt in 2017 during the BRS rule but was resumed after Congress came to power in 2023.
The project, with an original estimate of ₹2,200 crore, has been envisaged to provide 30 tmcft of water to Nalgonda from the Srisailam reservoir. The estimate was later revised to ₹4,637 crore, and ₹2,646 crore has been spent.
Even as the rescue operations intensified, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said the government should take responsibility for the collapse.
“This is the second incident after the collapse of the Sunkisala project,” he said.
(This report has been updated with additional information).
