• Source:JND
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Telangana Tunnel Collapse: As the rescue operation of the eight workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district enter its fifth day on Wednesday, experts who looked into the structural stability of the tunnel have found that an “unexpected mudslide caused the roof to collapse” on February 22. While most of the workers escaped after the roof collapsed at around 8.30 am on Saturday, some of the workers, including two site engineers got trapped behind a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). The rescue officials have not been able to connect to the trapped men yet.

“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, as quoted by an Indian Express report.

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The tunnel carries water from the Krishna River to Nalgonda and was prone to mudslides because it is a watering tunnel. On Tuesday, the rescue operations were halted by SDRF, NRDF and Army teams because experts warned that more mudslides could occur.

Telangana 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, as per the report.

Those trapped incident the tunnel have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand. Of the eight, two are engineers, two operators and four labourers.