Tunnel collapse: Robotics firm team explores possibility of using robos in rescue ops

Nagarkurnool (Telangana): A team from a robotics company went inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel, where eight people have been trapped for the last 12 days, as the state government is exploring the possibility of using robos in the rescue operation, officials said on Wednesday. The scientists of the National Centre of Seismology, Delhi, have also gone inside the tunnel, along with rescue teams, to carry out seismic related studies, they said.

The team from the Hyderabad-based robotics company examined whether a robo can go deep inside the tunnel and whether it can work there as humidity is high, a senior official told PTI.

"On Tuesday (March 4), the team explored the area. They will get back to us," he said.


The team would inform whether robos can work or not, he added.

Secondly, robos can conduct the initial recce when project-related work in the tunnel resumes in the future, to ensure structural stability of rocks, he said.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who visited the tunnel on March 2, suggested to the officials leading the rescue operation to use robots inside the tunnel if necessary, to avoid any danger to the rescue personnel.

The rescue operation continued at a brisk pace on Wednesday, with excavation being carried out at locations suggested by scientists to look for human presence.

The drilling is being carried out at other locations based on inputs from scientists at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad, who used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to detect human presence, officials said.

However, tough conditions inside the tunnel, including muck and water, have posed challenges for the rescue personnel.

Earlier inspections at other locations identified by the scientists did not reveal any signs of human presence.

The services of a sniffer dog of NDRF have also been used for selecting the area to be taken up for digging.

The conveyor belt at the tunnel, which has been repaired and made operational, was expected to be fully functional shortly, an official release said on Wednesday.

The belt was damaged after the accident on February 22.

The release said debris near the last part of the huge Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has been removed and that work on removing slush near the machine using water jets was underway.

State Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar and Nagarkurnool district Collector Badavath Santhosh held a meeting with the officials of the agencies involved in the rescue operation.

During the meeting, an official of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) explained the rescue operation inside the tunnel using a model of the TBM.

Eight persons -- engineers and labourers -- have been trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel since February 22 and experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy and other agencies are making relentless efforts to pull them out to safety.