NDRF medical teams, two dogs which can sniff cadavers, dispatched into Telangana SLBC tunnel

NDRF medical team and sniffer dogs deployed in collapsed tunnel to locate missing workers, with desilting ongoing.

A medical team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and two sniffer dogs trained to trace cadavers, were dispatched into the collapsed portion of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district on Friday (March 7, 2025) in an attempt to identify the probable locations where the eight missing workers could be trapped.

On the 14th day of the rescue operations, the NDRF teams went into the tunnel to ensure Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) are followed as and when the missing workers are traced. No headway has been made so far in tracing the missing workers despite over 18 agencies working round-the-clock to find the missing workers since February 22.

A senior State Government official told The Hindu on Friday that one probable site has been identified where the workers could be trapped. “The medical teams of NDRF are following the handlers of the two sniffer dogs as the rescue teams are confident that the probable location could lead us to the whereabouts of the trapped workers,” the official said.

It may be mentioned here that the two specialised sniffer dogs trained to identify cadavers were flown from Kerala to the site of the partially collapsed tunnel late last evening. They were first brought in an Indian Air Force plane to Hyderabad and then flown in two helicopters to Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district to join the rescue teams. Officials maintained these sniffer dogs did a good job during the Waynad landslide in identifying people trapped under mounds of mud.

Desilting work is going on at a brisk pace and the officials are deploying all the rescue team from different agencies to get a break through today. The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) personnel along with Rat miners team have entered the tunnel at 11.30 am to work on the sites identified by various rescue teams. The desilting work by the SCCL team has improved substantially after a general manager Baidya joined the rescue team yesterday.

Simultaneously, a team to explore the possibility of using robots has also gone inside again this morning, the official said adding that the removal of metal from the damaged Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is on in full swing and three platforms were sent along with the loco to remove the silt. The robots are likely to be pressed into service to identify areas to take up desilting and explore areas, which might be dangerous otherwise.

On the other hand, teams from National Centre for Seismology (NCS), National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) are working above the ground on the tunnel location. “The NCS team has identified the locations where their instruments need to be installed at a regular distance of five kms each,” the official pointed out.