Ten engineering experts who looked into the structural stability of the SLBC tunnel in Telangana have found that an “unexpected mudslide caused the roof to collapse”, which led to eight men being trapped.
The men have been trapped since Saturday morning and rescue operations have been underway for over 72 hours.
According to an expert, the mudslide was caused by seepage of water. “There was seepage of water from the hillocks above into the tunnel. This caused the mud to loosen and caused a mudslide,” the expert said. Mudslides, however, are not common in tunnel construction. “In this case, the tunnel was being dug at a place that was prone to mudslides, and the drilling triggered it,” the expert said.
The SLBC tunnel where eight men are trapped. (Express Photos by Sreenivas Janyala)
The tunnel was prone to mudslides because it is a watering tunnel, he said. The tunnel carries water from the Krishna River to Nalgonda.
On Tuesday, SDRF, NRDF and Army teams, which tried to carry out the rescue operations, stopped for a while because experts warned that more mudslides “cannot be ruled out”.
Telangana’s Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said the “accident could not have been prevented as it was not man-made”.
“It was a natural disaster which caused the accident,” he said, referring to the findings of the experts. He said that the rescue teams are on standby till the structural stability of the tunnel is assured. “We cannot risk more lives,” he said.
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Officials said multiple agencies are cautiously doing what they can in the rescue operation. “Huge amount of debris is present inside the tunnel at the collapse site… When the tunnel’s stability is in question, there is nothing much to be done. We will wait for what geological experts have to say. Whatever operation has been done so far can only be called a reconnaissance mission,” an official said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
