Telangana tunnel collapse: Search ops underway to locate seven missing persons

New Delhi: The search operation to locate seven persons trapped inside the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) since February 22 gathered pace with teams and equipment went inside the tunnel on Sunday, official sources said.
An autonomous hydraulic-powered robot is being used to remove soil, along with equipment such as a 30 HP capacity liquid ring vacuum pump and a vacuum tank machine, which facilitate the quick removal of soil and other debris inside the tunnel, accelerating the search operation, an official release said on Saturday.
Approximately 620 cubic meters of soil and muck can be removed from the tunnel per hour using a conveyor belt, it added.
Teams from the Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, human remains detection dogs (HRDD), state-run miner Singareni Collieries, a Hyderabad-based robotics company, and other agencies have been actively involved in the mission.
The search operation has been ongoing round-the-clock, including de-watering efforts.