Hyderabad: The Telangana govt is considering the use of robotic services for the ongoing rescue operations at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel site, where eight workers are trapped since Feb 22. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy suggested that robotic technology could be utilised in the rescue efforts.
Representatives from Hyderabad-based NV Robotics visited the tunnel site on Tuesday to assess the feasibility of using robots in the operation. They informed the govt that they would communicate soon regarding the feasibility.
On Wednesday, rescue teams focused on removing silt from two locations, identified by sniffer dogs from the National Disaster Response Force, which were about four feet deep. Officials are optimistic that significant progress will be made in the rescue operations by Thursday.
To assist with silt removal, the teams used water jets on the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Colonel Parikshit Mehra, a tunnel expert from the Border Roads Organisation, explained the process of dismantling and cutting the TBM to senior officers.
A meeting was held on Wednesday with special chief secretary for disaster management Arvind Kumar, fire services director general Y Nagi Reddy, Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited chairman and MD Musharraf Ali Faruqui, and other officials involved in the rescue efforts. They are hopeful of locating the eight missing workers.
Arvind Kumar told TOI on Wednesday, “The compressor, which was stuck in the middle, was safely pulled down and had to be cut by railway workers to clear the way for the excavator. The ventilation tube supplying oxygen to the workers has also been extended to the end of the tunnel.”
Given the humid conditions inside the tunnel that are affecting the operation, the rescue teams have installed two pedestal fans at the digging points and added lights at the tunnel’s end. Additionally, two extra water jet pumps have been put in place to aid in the operation.
