The search for people trapped in the tunnel continues, search dogs will help

Nagarkurnool: Eight people are trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana due to the collapse of a part of it. Continuous efforts are being made to rescue all these people. Many teams are engaged in this. To join this operation, now the specially trained 'body search dogs' of Kerala Police reached Nagarkurnool on Thursday. These dogs arrived by air, and their 'handlers' entered the tunnel with the officials. An official release from the Telangana government said that a plan will be prepared on how and where to take the dogs to detect the presence of a human being, and the dogs will be taken inside the tunnel on Friday morning.

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These dogs are specially trained to detect missing humans and human bodies. The Kerala government said in a statement that the 'body search dogs' and their training officers left for Hyderabad on Thursday morning. The statement said that the dogs were sent for the rescue operation after the request of the State Disaster Management Authority. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had sought help from the State Disaster Authority in this regard. The rescue workers had earlier taken the services of NDRF search dogs to select the area for digging to identify any human presence. The release said that senior NDMA officer Colonel Kirti Pratap Singh visited the spot on Thursday. Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) of the state government Arvind Kumar informed Singh about the rescue operation.

According to the release, in this accident that took place at a distance of 13.650 km inside the tunnel, the 150-meter-long 'Tunnel Boring Machine' (TBM) has been completely destroyed due to falling stones and debris. Soil, water, and stones have accumulated at that place. It said that eight people are feared trapped inside the tunnel. Efforts are being made to locate the trapped people by cutting the huge TBM. The release said that the 'conveyor belt' has been started in the tunnel, and the rescue operation will be accelerated after removing the soil using the belt. The 'conveyor belt' was damaged after the accident. Eight people, including engineers and laborers, have been trapped in Telangana's important SLBC project tunnel since February 22. Experts from NDRF, Army, Navy, and other agencies are making tireless efforts to get them out safely.

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