Telangana tunnel rescue work day 12 | Debris clearance picks up pace as damaged metal pieces are cleared and loaded onto loco

Compressor being pulled down by the excavator inside the SLBC tunnel, a part of which collapsed on February 22, 2025 leaving eight personnel missing.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Debris clearance inside the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Domalapenta of Nagarkurnool district picked up pace on Wednesday (March 5, 2025) with the metal pieces cleared from the maintenance area. The debris was loaded on to the locomotive using two excavators.

Although, not much headway could be made in tracing the eight missing personnel trapped inside the collapsed tunnel since February 22, rescue teams are going about their work systematically to clear the huge quantity of accumulated debris that includes metal pieces, rocks and slush.

Latest updates on rescue work at Telangana SLBC tunnel day 12 (March 5, 2025)

Conveyor belt functional up to 10 kms

Officials monitoring the rescue operation told The Hindu on Wednesday that the conveyor belt is functional up to 10 kms from the mouth of the tunnel. “Trial run for the last three kilometre stretch is in progress to reach the end of the tunnel. We hope that it will be functional by today,” sources said. The conveyor belt is only being used to bring our silt while metal is being brought by loco. 

The South Central Railway’s (SCR) mechanical engineering team has successfully pulled down the compressor that was struck in the middle of the mishap site. “This will help and clear the way for the excavator to go deep further inside the tunnel,” an official said.

The rescue teams have managed to extend ventilation tube to an extent of 25 metres and efforts are on to add another 75 metres of the tube to extend it up to the end of the tunnel.

Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar holds a meeting with rescue team including the Border Roads Organisation’s (BRO) tunnel expert Colonel Parikshit Mehra at SLBC tunnel site.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Digging near the platform which housed the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to an extent of six feet is going on as indicated by the National Disaster Response Force’s (NDRF) sniffer dog. Officials said lights have been installed till the end of the tunnel and two pedestal fans were also fixed inside on both the digging points. “We expect works to speeded up today,” officials maintained.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) and National Centre for Seismology (NCS) teams are carrying out investigations. In the meantime, GSI Director A.P. Thapliyal visited the tunnel site on Wednesday.