Revanth visits SLBC tunnel, seeks firm plan of action to continue operations further

Emphasises importance of ensuring safety of rescue personnel, seeks a comprehensive working plan from agencies involved in the operations

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy visited the SLBC tunnel collapse site in Nagarkurnool district on Sunday, taking stock of the ongoing rescue operations.

Amid mounting criticism for being away from the accident site, he interacted with officials spearheading the operations and made an on-ground inspection.

The rescue operations, involving around 800 personnel from multiple agencies, are currently focused on manual excavation at the identified sites in search of the missing persons. Officials provided a detailed PowerPoint presentation to the Chief Minister, highlighting the key aspects of the accident and the major impediments posed by the hard ground conditions. He was informed that debris got consolidated with water oozing from the cave-in site, which has further complicated the rescue efforts.

Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar apprised the Chief Minister of the concerns and challenges faced in the rescue operations. The Chief Minister emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety of the rescue personnel and sought a comprehensive working plan from the agencies involved in the operations.

The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) continued its studies, examining the site from various angles, including top and side views. The officials informed the Chief Minister that the National Centre for Seismography was also called in and it would conduct studies scanning up to a depth of 500 metres. The NGRI could manage it only up to a depth of 30 metres.

The Chief Minister stressed the need to learn from this incident and suggested using it as a case study to address similar emergencies in future. He highlighted the importance of having multiple entry and exit points to avoid such situations and urged the agencies to compile their experiences and suggest a way forward.
The Chief Minister also called for a consolidated work plan to continue the mission taking it to the logical end. He said the Prime Minister had also inquired about the progress in the rescue mission and he was keen on extending the required help.