Hyderabad, Feb 27: The operation to rescue eight persons trapped in the partially-collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district entered the sixth day on Thursday

Army, Navy, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and rat hole miners were engaged in intensified efforts to remove silt and debris from the tunnel.

The rescue workers were using gas cutters to detach damaged parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM).

The rescue agencies intensified the operation late Wednesday after a high-level meeting attended by military tunnel experts and state ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy decided to move ahead with a concrete action plan. The meeting decided to go for full-fledged dewatering and desilting.

Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy is hopeful that a breakthrough in reaching the trapped men could happen ‘very soon’.

The Minister stated that the rescue mission was in the final stage. “With the intensified rescue efforts, deployment of elite forces, and new high-tech interventions, a breakthrough in reaching the trapped workers could happen very soon,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy.

He expressed the hope that the rescue operation would be completed within two days and that new strategies were being implemented to mitigate challenges inside the tunnel.

The Minister said that as part of the intensified rescue operations, the government has also introduced reinforced support structures to stabilise the pathway leading to the TBM, ensuring that rescuers can navigate safely through the tunnel.

“Officials have been instructed to accelerate debris removal and reinforce weakened tunnel sections to prevent any secondary collapses,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The government is also taking the help of experts in the construction of tunnels in border areas and those who participated in rescue operations after similar tunnel accidents in other parts of the country.

Rescue teams had not been able to advance further for the last two days due to 7-9 metre high silt in the last 40-meter stretch.

On a request from Telangana, the National Disaster Management Authority has requested the National Remote Sensing Centre and Geological Survey of India to conduct a surface and sub-surface assessment of the incident site. This assessment is needed for the safety of the teams carrying out rescue operations.

The accident occurred 14 km inside the tunnel. While the rescue teams had already reached 13.5 km, they could not advance further for the last two days due to mud, debris of TBM and seepage of water.

New Delhi, Feb 27: The Union Cabinet has approved the amendments to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, incorporating the changes recently recommended by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), sources said on Thursday.

The Bill will now be tabled for discussion and passage in the second half of the budget session, which will be held from March 10 to April 4. The first part of the budget session was held from January 31 to February 13.

The Cabinet accepted 14 alterations made by the JPC in its meeting on February 19, the sources said.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposed 44 changes to laws governing central and state Waqf boards.

The proposals — which include nominating non-Muslim and (at least two) women members to a Waqf Board — triggered furious protests from the opposition. The Bill was referred to the JPC in August 2024 after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

The parliamentary panel adopted the report with a majority vote, while all 10 MPs from opposition parties in the panel had objected to the report. They had also moved dissent notes.

Sources have said that the government has incorporated most of the changes recommended by the JPC headed by Jagdambika Pal, and the Cabinet cleared it last week along with the Indian Port Bill.

Key amendments to the Bill include renaming the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 with the proposed name, ‘Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Bill’, the State Waqf Boards will include one member from the Muslim OBC community, safeguarding women’s inheritance rights, uploading all Waqf property details on a central portal within six months.

On August 8, 2024, two Bills — the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024 — were introduced in the Lok Sabha to streamline the Waqf Board’s work and ensure the efficient management of Waqf properties. The objective of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to redress the issues and challenges in regulating and managing Waqf properties.

The Amendment Bill seeks to improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India. It aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards by introducing changes such as renaming the Act, updating the definitions of waqf, improving the registration process, and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records. The primary objective of the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024, is to repeal the Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923, a colonial-era legislation that has become outdated and inadequate for managing waqf properties in modern India, according to a government press release. The repeal aims to ensure uniformity, transparency, and accountability in the administration and management of waqf properties and eliminating inconsistencies and ambiguities caused by the continued existence of this redundant law.

Hyderabad, Feb 26: The operation to rescue eight persons trapped in the partially-collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district will be intensified with state Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy expressing the hope that it will be completed in two days.

He told media that the rescue efforts, which entered the fifth day on Wednesday, would be speeded up. Rescue teams will now be moving forward with a concrete plan of action to reach the accident site through the silt.

At the review meeting the minister had with officers of various agencies and experts involved in the rescue operation, it was decided to go for full-fledged dewatering and desilting.

The review meeting decided to completely remove the silt. The Army, the Navy, the National Disaster Response Force and other rescue personnel will execute the plan without risking the lives of the workers. The help of rat miners will also be taken.

The minister said that experts in the construction of tunnels in border areas and those who participated in rescue operations after similar tunnel accidents in other parts of the country are being taken for the rescue operation.

“Best experts in the country and serving and retired Army officers were invited. They went into the tunnel and came out after assessing the situation,” said the minister.

The rescue teams are also taking the suggestions of tunnel experts from other countries to move forward.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said that gas cutters will be used to remove parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) which was damaged after a portion of the roof collapsed on February 22.

Earlier, a team of rescue workers from different agencies finally succeeded in crossing the last 40-metre stretch and returned but there was no word about the fate of the eight persons.

Earlier, tunnel experts from the Border Security Force (BSF) were roped in as part of the efforts to reach the head portion of the TBM.

At an earlier review meeting with Telangana ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, top officials of the agencies involved in the rescue mission informed that efforts were underway to remove the slush to reach the last 40 metres.

With this stretch filled with mud and debris and water seepage continuing, rescue workers had not made any headway for more than 24 hours.

A team of rat miners also went inside the tunnel to assess the situation. Their representative told the media that the TBM was not seen and feared that it could be buried under the mud.

Rescue teams of the NDRF, the Army, the Navy and other agencies have not been able to advance further due to 7-9 metre high mud while the continuous seepage of water has made the entire operation risky for the rescue workers.

On a request from Telangana, the National Disaster Management Authority has requested the National Remote Sensing Centre and the Geological Survey of India to conduct surface and sub-surface assessment of the incident site. This assessment is needed for the safety of the teams carrying out rescue operations.

Roping in experts from various agencies across the country and deployment of advanced equipment have not helped in what is believed to be the most difficult tunnel rescue operation in India.

The accident occurred 14 km inside the tunnel. While the rescue teams had already reached 13.5 km, they could not advance further for the last two days due to mud, the debris of TBM, and seepage of water. The divers of the Navy’s special forces unit Marcos were also unable to negotiate the slush.

Rescue workers say more soil is falling from fresh cavities at the exact spot of the tunnel collapse, adding to mud. As the slush is more than 70 per cent, the Navy divers were unable to go through it.

With more than 100 hours after the accident, the chances of survival of the trapped men are stated to be remote.

Meanwhile, Jaypee Group founder Jaiprakash Gaur visited the tunnel on Wednesday and said they were making their best efforts to rescue to trapped men. Jaypee is the contracting firm for the SLBC project.

Gaur said after completing the rescue operation, the company would resume the work to execute the project. He told media persons that they have encountered such incidents during tunnel works. He said this sixth or seventh accident in his life.