Rat-Hole Miners Enter Collapsed Telangana Tunnel To Work Out Rescue Plan

Hyderabad: A team of rat-hole miners, who rescued trapped workers from the Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarkashi last year, are now coordinating with other rescue agencies to try and save the lives of eight persons, including two engineers and two technicians from the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool that collapsed on February 22.

A day after reaching the spot, the rat-hole miners – who use handheld tools – and bare minimum equipment to squeeze through small openings in the ground, entered the tunnel on Tuesday along with Indian Navy divers, and personnel of the NDRF and SDRF, to take a look at the situation.

According to latest reports, 2-2.5 feet water is present at a spot that is 11.3 km inside the tunnel.

Experts have also opined that crossing the last 50 meters of the barrier, littered with debris from the tunnel boring machine and mud, could be extremely dangerous for rescuers. The men are trapped nearly 14 km inside the tunnel.

“All avenues are being explored. There are several challenges. The Navy divers can negotiate up to 30% slush and 70% water with their heavy equipment, but what we find here is over 70% slush. Bare minimum equipment can be taken inside. Hence, we have called in the rathole miners. Our primary aim at the moment is to ensure that the men inside receive sufficient amounts of air, food and drinking water,” an official said.

Telangana irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the trapped men are at risk as water and silt is flowing into the tunnel at high speed continuously. Calling this one of the most challenging rescue operations ever attempted in the country, he said that the collapse may have occurred due to a tectonic shift or after some geological fault lines gave away.

Reddy also held an emergency meeting with his cabinet colleagues in the afternoon on this subject.

The fact that the tunnel has a single entry-exit has made rescue efforts difficult. Efforts are now on to repair the conveyor belt that broke during the collapse. The conveyor belt is used to remove debris from the tunnel.