Telangana tunnel collapse: Rat-hole miners join rescue operations

India Today

Six rat-hole miners have reached the rescue operation site in Nagarkurnool to join the rescue operation to save eight trapped workers inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel.

Transcript

00:00But let's start with a story that's breaking at this moment.

00:04Eight people are still trapped inside the Srisailam left bank canal tunnel in Telangana.

00:12Inflow of water and mud has obstructed the rescue work.

00:16Sadly, Uttarakhand's rat hole miners who helped when there was a tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand

00:23two years ago have now been roped in.

00:26The six rat hole miners are at the site.

00:29Six more are expected to reach tomorrow, but the story that's breaking at the moment is

00:34coming from Telangana where the NDRF and now the rat miners are still engaged in a rescue

00:41operation trying to find the trapped eight miners.

00:46Okay, let's go straight across first to the NDRF.

00:51DG is joining me at the moment.

00:52Piyush Anand is the DG NDRF whose team is there right on the spot.

00:58Appreciate your joining us, Mr. Anand.

01:01What is the biggest challenge you're facing at the moment to rescue the trapped miners, sir?

01:08My friend, you will be aware that this is a very complicated situation because the incident

01:16has taken place almost like 14 kilometers deep inside the tunnel.

01:21So I mean, the complications arise because already it is 14 kilometers deep, number one.

01:27There's a lot of water, which is still steeping in.

01:30There is a lot of slush, a lot of silt is there.

01:34So that has really added to the complications.

01:38How many of your team members are involved actually in the ground operations?

01:48So we were the first ones to react as soon as we got the information.

01:53So we rushed our teams from Hyderabad and from our battalion headquarter in Vijayawada.

01:58So finally we were able to reach there the same day and we have four teams in place.

02:04And our commandant who is there based in Vijayawada, we also rushed him there.

02:09And apart from that, we knew that something similar had happened in Silkiara.

02:14So the unit, the commandant who had operated there in Silkiara, so we rushed in from their

02:19battalion headquarter, which is in Haldwani, Rudrapur.

02:22And we, I mean, rushed him from Rudrapur to along with his team members to this scene

02:29of incident.

02:30So as of now, we have four teams and two commandants who are there at the scene of incident.

02:38You mentioned just now, Mr. Anand, that you were successful in Silkiara and Uttarakhand,

02:42though it took more than two weeks for the operation to conclude successfully and rescue

02:47the miners there who were trapped there.

02:50Is this rescue operation way more difficult because of the slush and the mud on the site?

02:56For us, every operation is tough and I'll not be doing my job properly if I compare

03:08two operations.

03:10But as I mentioned previously, this has got many challenges.

03:15So this is equally challenging, if not more.

03:19But people on the ground, Mr. Anand, are fearing that hope is dimming for the trapped workers.

03:24Do you remain hopeful that you can still rescue the workers, that they are still alive?

03:30Look, we also, we always believe that there is hope and we will try to the last possible

03:39extent to try to save these people.

03:42So we never give up hope and that is not in our motto.

03:46We always try to the last point.

03:49We are told though that the rat miners team arrived this evening, they were the ones who

03:54were the heroes in many ways in Uttarakhand.

03:57At what stage will you involve them fully in the rescue efforts?

04:04You may already be aware that MHA, that's the Home Ministry, is actually coordinating

04:11this whole operation very closely.

04:13So apart from NDRF, Air Force, Army, Navy, they are all involved.

04:20I mean, Air Force has been regularly running helicopter sorties to transport different

04:25teams from Hyderabad to the scene of incident and DMA is coordinating the whole operation.

04:32And they have also sent experts who were there, who were operating there in Silkihara.

04:38And as a part of that team, they have also sent the rat hole miners who were involved

04:42in those operations.

04:44As and when they will be involved, I think it's an operational decision, which is based

04:48on the situation on the ground.

04:51So as of now, it's very difficult to say when they will be used, how they will be used,

04:56because we have to be prepared to handle all sort of situations which can arise in this

05:01disaster.

05:02Right.

05:03Mr. Anand, for joining me right here at the top of the news, I appreciate you joining

05:08us, for giving us all the updates.

05:09We hope and pray for your success and your team is able to save all the trapped workers.

Category

Transcript

Recommended