Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy Explains How the SLBC Tunnel Accident Occurred

Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy has responded to the SLBC tunnel accident. Upon receiving information about the incident, he immediately arrived at the tunnel site by helicopter and personally supervised the rescue operations. Speaking to the media at the site where the tunnel collapsed, he provided details about the sequence of events leading to the accident.

According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, workers entered the tunnel at 8:00 AM, and the boring machine was switched on at 8:30 AM. After drilling approximately 20 meters, water began leaking into the tunnel. He explained that the water leakage from one side of the tunnel caused the soil to collapse.

The minister revealed that the boring machine operator sensed the danger in advance and quickly evacuated 42 workers who were behind the machine. However, eight individuals who were in front of the boring machine were unable to escape and became trapped inside the tunnel. Among them are two foreign engineers, two machine operators, and four workers. He further stated that except for the foreign engineers, the remaining individuals are from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Uttam Kumar Reddy assured that every possible effort is being made to rescue the eight trapped individuals alive. He acknowledged the complexity of the rescue operation, given that they are trapped 14 kilometers inside the tunnel. He also mentioned that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which specializes in such rescue operations, would be deployed to assist in the efforts.