Search intensifies for missing workers in SLBC tunnel

Hyderabad: The search for the seven missing workers trapped in the SLBC tunnel in Nagarkurnool district continued with renewed intensity on Monday, a day after the body of one worker, Gurpreet Singh, was recovered from the debris. Rat-hole miners, NDRF personnel, and other rescuers were all working relentlessly to locate the missing workers.
"The search for the seven workers still missing has been intensified. We are focusing our efforts at two sites identified by cadaver dogs brought in from Kerala, and excavation work is progressing," an official overseeing the operation stated.
The tragic incident occurred on Feb 22, trapping eight workers inside the tunnel. While Singh's body was retrieved on Sunday, postmortem procedures were completed, and his remains were sent to Punjab. Though there were reports that two more bodies were suspected to be at one of the sites identified by the cadaver dogs, the rescue teams did not find them.
Ground-penetrating radar and other advanced technologies are being used to further pinpoint their location. Rescue teams, including rat-hole miners from Uttarakhand, Singareni Collieries workers, and NDRF personnel, ware carefully digging through the debris with mini excavators. However, conditions remain challenging due to water flow, unstable tunnel conditions, and metal debris. To aid the search, advanced robotic technology was also deployed.
Experts from the Geological Survey of India, South Central Railway, and other agencies were assisting with safety measures for both rescuers and the trapped workers. The search focused on the last 70 meters of the 14-km-long tunnel.
The missing workers were Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas (Uttar Pradesh), Sunny Singh (Jammu and Kashmir), and Sandeep Sahu, Jagta Xess, Santosh Sahu, and Anuj Sahu (Jharkhand).
Rescue teams remain hopeful that the continued use of sniffer dogs and modern technology will lead to the recovery of the remaining human remains.
While continuous dewatering and desilting were being done and the tunnel boring machine was being cut, the rescue agencies were mobilising special equipment for the workers to carry out their work without the risk of being trapped.