Incessant seepage of water led to SLBC tunnel roof collapse

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy at the under-construction stretch in the tunnel of Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project where a section of roof collapsed, in Nagarkurnool district, on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: PTI

HYDERABAD

The Telangana government is making all efforts to save eight persons including two engineers and two other technical staff trapped 14 km inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel, a portion of which collapsed due to incessant water seepage from the roof on Saturday morning.

“Lives of all persons trapped inside are precious not only for their families but for us (Telangana government) too and we are leaving no stone unturned to save them and bring them out safely. We have already sought the help of tunnel experts of the Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) who had participated in a similar tunnel collapse rescue operation a few years ago in Uttarakhand,” Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

The task (rescue operation) is highly challenging as it has to be taken up 14 km inside the tunnel and only experts could take it up.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs after three NDRF teams from Hyderabad and Vijayawada reached the accident site and assessed the situation stated that the tunnel roof for about 10 metres length had collapsed in the incident and the muck mixed with water had spread for about 300 metres after the roof collapse.

The rescue teams could not establish any communication with those trapped inside till night. The roof collapse was estimated at about 13 km from the mouth of the tunnel. The NDRF teams noticed an earth fracture on a side of the tunnel wall, from where the seepage water was gushing in and the roof of the collapsed area was very unstable as the noises of shifting boulders were coming out.

Further, they assessed that the total span of the collapsed roof could be over 200 metres with continuous seepage of water. The work agency and the Irrigation department have assessed that slipping (crumbling) of the concrete segments laid to plug the seepage could be the main cause for the incident.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao has demanded that the National Dam Safety Authority take up an investigation into the incident.