Telangana Tunnel Collapse Live: Chances of 8 trapped men's survival 'very remote', says minister Jupally Krishna Rao

Rat miners who were part of the successful rescue operation for Uttarkashi tunnel collapse that happened on October 31st, arrived in Nagarkurnool for the ongoing rescue operation for Srisailam Left Bank Canal collapse

Firoz Qureshi, a rat miner, tells ANI: " I have come from Delhi, our whole team has come from Delhi, Collector has called us here. 6 of us have come here and 6 more will be coming, we are a team of 12 people. In Uttarakhand, we had rescued 41 labourers...till now, we have not received much information. As of now, we have been told that we need to go along with NDRF and SDRF teams. It will be difficult to say something until we see the situation there"

Ex NDMA Vice chairman and BJP leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy said, "I think the state government has not paid attention to what should be done in such situations. Two such incidents have happened. What is the lesson? Why were safety measures not taken? ...Let us pray and hope that we will be able to rescue the trapped people...The State Disaster Management Authority should sit down and prepare a management plan, disaster management plan for such situations."

Jupally Krishna Rao stated, "When we shouted their names also, there was no response...so, there is no chance at all." The collapsed section is filled with heavy muck and debris, making the rescue task extremely difficult.

"The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) which weighs a few hundred tons, got almost flushed away by about 200 meters after the collapse and due to the gushing water," Rao stated, highlighting the severity of the situation.

"For removing all the debris and all that, in spite of all types of efforts, all types of organizations (working), it takes, I think it takes not less than 3-4 days (to extricate the people)," Jupally Krishna Rao said.

Telangana minister Jupally Krishna Rao said, "To be honest, the chances of their survival are very, very, very, very remote. Because, I myself went up to the end, almost just 50 meters short (of the mishap site). When we took photographs, the end (of the tunnel) was visible. And out of the 9 meter diameter (of the tunnel)—almost 30 feet, out of that 30 feet, mud has piled up up to 25 feet."

The trapped individuals include Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas (Uttar Pradesh), Sunny Singh (Jammu & Kashmir), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab), and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu, and Anuj Sahu (Jharkhand).

Continuous oxygen pumping is being carried out inside the tunnel. Engineers are closely monitoring oxygen levels to ensure a steady supply. Meanwhile, dewatering operations are in full swing to remove excess water and allow rescue teams to progress further inside the tunnel.

Excise minister Jupally Krishna Rao stated that the collapse was an accident and not due to human error or government negligence, urging the opposition not to politicize the incident.

Telangana ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jupally Krishna Rao are supervising the rescue operations, with senior officials from the Union government also present.

Four NDRF teams (one from Hyderabad and three from Vijayawada), Army personnel, SDRF, Singareni Collieries workers, and HYDRAA members are involved in the rescue efforts.

The rescue teams faced difficulty as heavy equipment could not be moved due to waterlogging 2 km before the collapse site, requiring extensive dewatering.

The Telangana government has called a six-member team, including rat-hole miners who rescued 41 workers in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel collapse in 2023.

Multiple rescue teams have reached the 13.5 km mark inside the SLBC tunnel, but further progress is hindered by silt accumulation, heavy waterlogging, and the damaged tunnel boring machine. Efforts are focused on clearing the path by dewatering and cutting through the collapsed sections. Additional motors have been deployed to speed up the dewatering process.

A six-member expert rescue team, including rat-hole miners, has landed in Hyderabad late Sunday night. They will be taken directly to the SLBC tunnel site to explore alternative drilling methods for reaching the trapped workers. The team played a crucial role in the successful rescue of 41 workers in Uttarakhand last year. Authorities are hopeful that their expertise will accelerate the rescue process.