As Telangana search operation rolled on to the 21st day, an 'autonomous hydraulic powered robot' equipped with special machinery, has been deployed to accelerate the search operation for seven persons trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel here.
The equipment includes a 30 HP capacity liquid ring vacuum pump and a vacuum tank machine, which are helpful in quick removal of soil and other works inside the tunnel, an official statement said. Instead of manual digging, autonomous hydraulic-powered robo is being used to remove soil with speed. About 620 cubic metres of soil and muck can be shifted out of the tunnel in an hour by using a conveyor belt, it added.
The decomposed dead body of one of the workers was earlier recovered from a machine inside the tunnel with the help of cadaver dogs.
Teams of NDRF, SDRF, HRDD have been actively supervising the operations
The use of machines with the latest technology would help in carrying out the operation efficiently. State Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar has been supervising the search operation. Teams from Army, NDRF, SDRF, HRDD (human remains detection dogs, state-run miner Singareni Collieries, a Hyderabad-based robotics company and others have been actively involved in the mission.
The body of Gurpreet Singh, who worked as a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operator, was recovered on March 9. The body was handed over to his family members in Punjab. Apart from Gurpreet Singh, the seven others still trapped include Manoj Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Sunny Singh (Jammu & Kashmir), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab), and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.
The eight individuals—comprising engineers and labourers—got trapped in the SLBC project tunnel after a portion of it collapsed on February 22