The race to find eight workers trapped in the collapsed Telangana tunnel has taken a turn for the worse - with less than 50 metres between rescuers and the buried section - after a one-metre-increase in the wall of slush threatening to bury them, NDTV was told Monday evening, 48 hours after the collapse.
Rescue operations may be forced to slow down, NDTV was then told, after experts, including one from Australia, raised questions about the stability of the collapsed section. Any more digging, it is believed could not only further endanger the trapped workers but also risk the lives of those trying to save them.
So far five teams have gone into the tunnel; the last, which included geologists and drone experts, left at 3.30pm and is expected to return later this evening.
But it is the feedback from the fourth, which went in at 1am today and returned saying the previously seven-metre-high slush wall is now at least a metre higher, that has caused concern.
This happened between the time the second team came out and the fourth went in.
Worrying Increase In Slush
A National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, or NHIDCL, has told government officials overseeing the operation the quantity of slush has increased, and that this could be due to another sudden inflow or a gradual increase. In either case, NDTV was told, the situation is now very dangerous and it might be safer to not conduct "intensive" rescue ops at this time.
READ | Water, Debris Challenges Rescuers At Collapsed Telangana Tunnel
Rescue officials believe a massive 3,200 litres of water is flooding the tunnel every minute, mixing with the vast quantities of sand, rock, and debris to make more mud and slush. This is not unnatural or unexpected and the tunnel is being de-watered but the worry is the slush is continuing to flow in.
'Area Unsettled': Australian Expert
Chris Cooper, an Australian tunnel expert, offered a similar assessment; he said the entire area appears unsettled and that it might to be too dangerous to continue with heavy-duty digging.
Experts have also flagged the problem of shifting boulders - as suggested by noises reported from the four teams - that indicate the roof in the collapsed portion is still unstable.
The NHIDCL led the third and fourth rescue teams; the first two were led by the National Disaster Response and the Army, respectively. Two teams from construction company Larsen & Toubro - with advanced equipment, including endoscopic and robotic cameras - have also joined rescue efforts.
The L&T teams will deploy these cameras to sift through the muck and, hopefully, communicate with the survivors, if any, Nagarkurnool District Collector Badavath Santosh told news agency IANS.
Meanwhile, gas-cutters were sent in cut through the metal of the 'tunnel boring machine' and a small excavator followed to dig out the mud
Worries Over Fault Lines
Meanwhile, the state government has sent the latitude and longitude of the collapsed tunnel to the National Remote Sensing Agency and the Geological Survey of India for details on existing fault lines.
This is to assess the risk of a second collapse that could also bury the rescue teams.
'Very Remote' Chances Of Survival
Telangana minister Jupally Krishna Rao has admitted there is only a "remote" chance the workers will be found alive. "Muck has piled up... Chances of survival are very remote... but we are hopeful..."
After this evening's developments, the state government must consult with the experts and take a call on how to proceed without endangering more lives, he told NDTV.
Special teams, including commandos and the rat-miners - who helped save 41 workers trapped in an Uttarakhand tunnel in November 2023 - have been put on standby.
READ | "Survival Chances Very Remote": 8 Trapped In Collapsed Tunnel For 48 Hours
The proposed 44km-long tunnel collapsed Saturday while a team of workers were inside repairing a water leak. All but the eight who were trapped managed to escape.
There has been no contact with them since.
VIDEO | Inside Telangana Tunnel Where Roof Collapse Trapped 8 Workers
On Sunday rescuers released footage from inside the tunnel in which they could be heard shouting out the names of the eight trapped workers. In the video one of the rescue workers could be heard saying, "Some voices are coming..."
The trapped men are from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir.
The tunnel project that was proposed when NT Rama Rao was Chief Minister, back in 1983, was finally cleared in 2005. Work began in 2006 and by 2014, about 28 km had been dug. Work, though, was paused for five years from 2019. It was only recently boring work was restarted at the project site.
With input from agencies
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
