Rescue teams have recovered the body of a worker from the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool, which collapsed on February 22, trapping eight workers.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy expressed their condolences over the death of the worker, identified as Gurpreet Singh, according to an official statement from the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The Chief Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the family of the deceased. Rescue teams had earlier recovered another body on Sunday, as confirmed by officials.
The Kerala cadaver dog squad, brought in to assist the ongoing rescue efforts, detected human remains inside the tunnel. According to rescue officials, the deceased worker was found trapped in a machine inside the collapsed section of the tunnel.
“We found one body stuck in the machine, with only the hand visible. The rescue teams are currently cutting the machine to retrieve the body,” said an official on site.
On Saturday, Telangana Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that robotic technology had been deployed to speed up the ongoing rescue operations at the SLBC tunnel near Domalapenta in the Nagarkurnool district, where the remaining workers are still trapped.
Calling the incident a national disaster, the minister emphasized that the state government is utilizing the best global technology to overcome the challenges posed by the final stretch of the 14-kilometer-long tunnel.
During his visit to the site, Reddy reviewed the situation with officials from multiple national agencies, including State Disaster Management Secretary Arvind Kumar and Army Commandant Parikshit Mehra, who are overseeing the rescue efforts.
The minister reported that cadaver dogs from Kerala had detected a strong odor at a specific location, suggesting the presence of three more individuals. He assured that the government would provide full support to the families of the missing workers. Reddy also reviewed the ongoing dewatering and desilting efforts, confirming that further updates would be provided after a review on March 11.
Despite relentless efforts by 11 national-level rescue teams over the past two weeks, locating and retrieving the remaining trapped workers has proven challenging. The government has consulted tunnel construction and rescue experts from around the world to determine the safest and most effective course of action. On Saturday, 525 personnel were engaged in the rescue mission.
The tragic incident occurred on February 22 when a three-meter section of the roof of an under-construction stretch of the SLBC tunnel collapsed at the 14-kilometer mark near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district. The collapse happened just four days after construction work had resumed following a lengthy hiatus. While some workers managed to escape, eight remained trapped, sparking an ongoing and complex rescue operation.