Rescue teams intensified operation to rescue eight persons trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district. Rescue workers were using gas plasma cutters to detach damaged parts of the tail portion of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to clear the access to the last end of the tunnel where the eight men were trapped. Rescue agencies intensified the operation after a high-level meeting attended by military tunnel experts and state ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. The government is also taking the help of experts in the construction of tunnels in border areas and those who participated in rescue operations after similar tunnel accidents in other parts of India. The accident occurred 14 km inside the tunnel. While the rescue teams had already reached 13.5 km, they could not advance further for the last two days due to mud, the debris of TBM, and seepage of water.
