SLBC Tunnel Collapse: Search for Missing Bodies to Resume

Hyderabad: The search for the bodies of six workers buried in the debris inside the collapsed SLBC tunnel in Nagarkurnool district can continue as long as safety precautions are taken, it was decided at a meeting of a committee of experts in Hyderabad on Friday.

The search operation was put on hold, with work inside scaled down on April 24. A section of the inlet side of tunnel, 13.9 km inside the Nallamala hills, had collapsed on February 22 trapping eight workers. So far, the bodies of two were found.

The rest of the bodies are believed to be buried in the last 50 metres of the tunnel at the collapse site, where debris has piled up to the roof, with some of it resting on a section of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Operations to remove the tunnel were scaled down due to fears of further collapse.

It is learnt that at Friday’s meeting, Jaiprakash Associates, the company contracted to dig the tunnel and whose workers lost their lives in the accident, was informed on how the search can begin again, but in a safe manner. “The suggested method is to dig out the debris slowly and keep setting up supports up to the roof portion. The National Institute for Rock Mechanics provided a plan of action on how this can be done safely,” a senior irrigation department official said.

Meanwhile, the committee, comprising representative from NDRF, NGRI, GSI, National Centre for Seismology, National Institute of Rock Mechanics, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), SDRF, irrigation department, also decided that NGRI should conduct a thorough geophysical study of the area around the collapsed section, and on both sides of the tunnel, to determine how further digging can be done using the drill and blast method. This study might take two or three months.

The plan is to dig two smaller tunnels in place of the nine-metre-wide one that was dug using the TBM, bypassing the original alignment of the tunnel to avoid fractured and shear zones in the rocks above. Meanwhile, work on tunnelling using a second TBM from the outlet side of the tunnel in Nalgonda district is expected to resume soon.

The second TBM is being repaired and fitted with a giant bearing. There is still around 9 km of the tunneling work to be completed of the total 43 km long tunnel.