With eight workers still trapped at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project site after a partial tunnel collapse, Jaypee Group founder and chairperson Jaiprakash Gaur on Wednesday stated that accidents can occur during challenging projects.
Jaiprakash Associates Ltd., the flagship company of Jaypee Group, had secured the contract for tunnel boring at the SLBC project.
Speaking to reporters at the accident site after meeting Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, the 90-year-old Jaypee Group founder acknowledged witnessing multiple such incidents during his career.
“In these challenging projects, accidents happen. In my lifetime, I have seen six or seven such incidents—at Tehri, in Bhutan, in Jammu & Kashmir, and elsewhere. One has to face these challenges,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
The shift in-charge, sensing unusual sounds, instinctively ordered an evacuation and ran for safety as massive amounts of water, stones, sludge, and mud crashed down from the tunnel roof, filling approximately 300 meters of the area.
However, during the subsequent headcount, it was discovered that eight workers, including two officers, were trapped in the debris. Efforts to rescue them have been ongoing with the coordinated support of response teams, medical personnel, departmental officers, and the district administration, the company informed the stock exchange.
