Telangana Chief Minister A.K. Revanth Reddy said on Sunday that the SLBC project is not yet accurately aware of the site where eight people are stranded, although the government is trying to expedite the rescue operations.
After visiting the accident site in Nagarakurranul district, Reddy told reporters that the rescue operation would accelerate after repairing the damaged ‘conveyor belt’. The ‘conveyor belt’ is expected to recover by Monday.
Reddy said, “They (rescuers) are unable to fully understand where people and machines are trapped. They only have preliminary estimates. ”He said that the government has suggested to the officials leading the rescue operations that the robot should be used inside the tunnel if necessary, so that the rescuers can be protected from any kind of danger.
The Chief Minister said that the government is firm to evacuate the trapped people and is also ready to help the victim families. The Chief Minister said that ‘Rat Minors’ excavated at places known by the National Geological Research Institute (NGRI) as a possible place of people trapped, but the presence of any human being in it was not known.
He said that rescue operations have been obstructed due to mud and water filled inside the tunnel. The Chief Minister said that it may take two-three days to reach the campaign to reach a certain phase and only then the rescuers will be able to tell about further action.
It has been nine days for the accident and when asked about the status of the personnel trapped inside, Reddy said that he can only say something based on the information given by the rescue officials and it is too early to make a statement on the matter.
Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) has trapped eight people (engineers and workers) under the roof of the tunnel collapsing and the rescue operations to evacuate them safely.