The liquid ring vacuum pump before being shifted into the SLBC tunnel at Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement
HYDERABAD
The multi-agency rescue operation to trace the remaining seven persons trapped under the debris in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel near Domalapenta village in Nagarkurnool district has made no significant progress on the 23rd day on Sunday despite intensified efforts of de-watering, debris removal, shifting of muck and silt and parts of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) were on.
According to officials monitoring the rescue operation, a total of five mini-excavators were deployed in the tunnel now to work in a chain-link method to carry the silt and muck in the last 400 metres of the tunnel to the end point of the conveyor belt. The excavators were loading the debris directly onto the belt for its shifting out of the tunnel.
On the other hand, the metal parts of the TBM, which were being cut into pieces by the technicians from the South Central Railway (SCR) were being shifted out of the of the tunnel with the help of trolleys linked to the locomotive, which runs for about 13 km inside from the tunnel mouth.
The officials stated that the human remains detection dogs (HRDDs) or cadaver sniffer dogs reconfirmed the D1 location, where the digging work was already in progress along with the D2 point. The two points were being dug up layer by layer as the debris contained the metal parts of the TBM and the hardened silt.
Even the de-watering process was intensified in the five-stage pumping system by deploying additional motors in all the five stages, which together have pumps with a capacity of about 3,000 HP now. The ventilator, fresh air carrier, and duct was also restored to the ceiling of the tunnel up to the D2 point.
The 30 HP capacity liquid ring vacuum pump which was taken to the tunnel on March 14 was sent inside for deployment practically on Sunday evening.
Published – March 16, 2025 08:11 PM is
