Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], February 23 (ANI): Jharkhand Minister of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Irfan Ansari on Sunday said that he is closely monitoring the situation following the collapse of the SLBC tunnel in Telangana, where several labourers, including those from Jharkhand, are reportedly trapped.

"I am constantly in contact with the Secretary there (in Telangana). CM Hemant Soren has spoken to the Telangana CM (Revanth Reddy). As per the information, four to five labourers from Jharkhand are stuck there. I am monitoring the situation," Ansari told ANI.

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Meanwhile, in a meeting of the ruling party MLAs held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Shri Hemant Soren at Srikrishna Institute of Public Administration, Ranchi, discussions were held on strategy formulation in view of the second (Budget) session of the sixth Jharkhand Legislative Assembly convened from February 24 to March 27, 2025, according to the IPRD statement.

Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma is closely monitoring the rescue operations in Nagarkurnool, where a tunnel collapse has trapped six to eight workers.

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He also spoke to the District Collector, who briefed him on the ongoing efforts to rescue workers trapped inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel.

On Saturday morning, a three-metre section of the roof of an under-construction stretch of the SLBC tunnel collapsed at the 14 km mark near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district, Telangana.

The trapped workers include Manoj Kumar (Project Engineer) from Uttar Pradesh, Srinivas (Field Engineer) from Uttar Pradesh, Sandeep Sahu (Worker) from Jharkhand, Jataks (Worker) from Jharkhand, Santosh Sahu (Worker) from Jharkhand, Anuj Sahu (Worker) from Jharkhand, Sunny Singh (Worker) from Jammu & Kashmir, and Gurpreet Singh (Worker) from Punjab.

The collapse occurred just four days after construction work had resumed following a lengthy hiatus. While some workers managed to escape, the eight remain trapped. (ANI)

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