Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy has directed officials to continue the rescue operations at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) to trace the missing seven persons. He appointed IAS officer Siva Sankar Lotheti as a special officer to monitor the rescue operations along with other officials.
The CM held a review meeting on the ongoing SLBC rescue operations in the assembly committee hall on Monday, along with ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, and chief secretary Santhi Kumari. Special chief secretary Arvind Kumar and Colonel Parikshit Mehra from the Indian Army explained the situation in the tunnel and the status of the rescue operations. They explained that the debris and metal pieces of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) were being removed and transported outside the tunnel.
Since the last 30 metres of the tunnel was considered a danger zone, the CM directed them to look for alternative methods to reach that point, and tracing the missing persons should be a top priority. “If any permissions are required from the Centre for drilling and other works, as the location is in the reserve forest zone, that should be taken,” the CM said. He also advised the officials to take expert committee suggestions on this.
Telangana Andhra Sub Area general officer commanding Ajay Mishra, irrigation advisor Adityanath Das, representatives of NDRF, SDRF, GSI, NGRI, SCCL, HYDRAA, fire services, and the contractor of the project, Jaiprakash Associates, and other officials were present.
