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Telangana tunnel rescue operation to be intensified with new plan of action, no sign of trapped workers

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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.

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US: Three killed in severe storms in Oklahoma

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Houston, April 21: Three people were killed as heavy storms hit the central US state of Oklahoma over the weekend, authorities said.

A 12-year-old boy and his mother died in Moore, about 10 miles (about 16 km) south of Oklahoma City, on Sunday after floodwaters washed away their vehicle, said local police.

“This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city,” Moore police said in a statement.

Another person was killed on Saturday night after a tornado hit Spaulding, a town in Hughes County, the county wrote on Facebook, Xinhua news agency reported.

Several homes and structures were destroyed, and there were “numerous washouts” of county roads, it said.

On April 20, the National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings across several states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana. According to AccuWeather, regions of Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois faced a high risk of severe thunderstorms.

The Storm Prediction Centre warned that strong, damaging winds, hail, and thunderstorms were likely to persist throughout the night. Severe weather was expected to continue across parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, extending into the Ozark Mountains and the mid-Mississippi Valley.

By late evening, local news outlets in Arkansas and Montana confirmed at least two tornado touchdowns. In Illinois, the National Weather Service issued alerts for severe storms capable of producing tornadoes.

Around 9 p.m. local time, a tornado was detected east of East Moline, a city in northwestern Illinois that’s part of the Quad Cities. At the time, no injuries or damages were reported.

Looking ahead, forecasters predicted ongoing showers and thunderstorms along and ahead of a front stretching from the Great Lakes down through the Tennessee and Lower Mississippi Valleys to the Gulf Coast on Monday. While heavy rainfall could lead to flooding, the severe weather threat was expected to diminish throughout the day.

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Strong 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan; tremors felt in Delhi-NCR, J&K

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New Delhi, April 19: A powerful earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon at 12:17 pm IST, as reported by the National Center for Seismology (NCS).

The quake’s epicentre was located at 36.10 degrees North latitude and 71.20 degrees East longitude, with a depth of 130 kilometres. Tremors from the earthquake were felt across several northern regions of India, including Jammu & Kashmir and the Delhi-NCR area.

While there have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries, authorities are keeping a close watch on the situation.

The NCS confirmed the seismic activity via a post on social media platform X.

“EQ of M: 5.8, On: 19/04/2025 12:17:53 IST, Lat: 36.10 N, Long: 71.20 E, Depth: 130 Km, Location: Afghanistan,” NCS said in a post on X.

This event follows a similar tremor that occurred earlier in the week. On Wednesday, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Afghanistan, with its epicentre approximately 164 km east of Baghlan.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) initially reported the quake as 6.4 in magnitude but later revised it to 5.6.

In a related development, the Kishtwar region of Jammu & Kashmir also experienced a mild earthquake measuring 2.4 on the Richter scale on Wednesday morning around 5:14 AM IST.

The tremor occurred at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) highlights that Afghanistan is extremely susceptible to natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and seasonal floods.

UNOCHA also pointed out that the frequent seismic activity in the region severely impacts already fragile communities, which have endured years of conflict and underdevelopment.

These conditions have significantly weakened their capacity to handle multiple crises at once. According to the Red Cross, Afghanistan has a long history of experiencing powerful earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush region, which is known for its intense geological activity and frequent tremors.

The country lies along several major fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. One of these fault lines passes directly through Herat, increasing the area’s risk of seismic events.

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4 dead, 12 feared trapped in Delhi’s Mustafabad building collapse: NDRF (LD)

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New Delhi, April 19: At least four people have died and around 12 are feared trapped after a four-storey building collapsed in the Mustafabad area of Delhi in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.

The incident occurred around 3 a.m., following intense overnight rainfall and thunderstorms that hit several parts of the city.

Sandeep Lamba, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East District), said, “Four among the 14 rescued succumbed to their injuries… The building was four floor high. Rescue operations are ongoing, and eight to ten people are still feared trapped.”

Providing an update from the ground, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official Mohan Shaheedi said, “Around 12 people are feared trapped under the debris, including 9 adults and 3 children. According to information from local sources, 6 people have been rescued so far and shifted to the hospital. Two NDRF teams are present at the site, supported by Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, and volunteers.”

He added, “Authorities are identifying cavities and possible locations under the debris where survivors may be trapped. Technical searches are underway using rescue dogs to detect any signs of life. If any indication is found, special focus is given to that area. The operation is highly challenging and is being carried out with the utmost care.”

Teams from the NDRF, Delhi Police, Fire Services, and local volunteers continue to work tirelessly at the site.

The area has been sealed off as the rescue operation enters a critical phase. The exact cause of the collapse will be investigated once the rescue efforts conclude. Rescue operations are underway.

The house collapse incident occurred just hours after a sudden shift in Delhi’s weather on Friday night when heavy rainfall and thunderstorms lashed several parts of the city.

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