Vishakapatnam, April 11: Is Gopal Behara alive? Trapped in a tunnel at Gandhigram near the Sagar Durga Hill here, Behara, a worker, has been battling for life for over 72 hours.
About 50 personnel, including those from Defence services, are engaged in the rescue operation. Official sources said it may take eight more hours to know his condition.
Police also fear that more workers might have been trapped.
Behara, an employee of a construction company, was part of the work force employed to dig a tunnel for the Hindustan Construction Company and the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd to store crude oil of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
On Thursday night around 11:45 pm, when Behara was loading debris and mud into a dumper, the side walls inside the tunnel caved in.
As ill-luck would have it, a huge boulder, weighing up to 3,000 tonnes, fell down trapping him in the tunnel and cutting him off from the rest of the world.
Behara had been working in the late night shift that day. Police said the incident had taken place two km inside the tunnel.
They said oxygen was being supplied through a pipeline already laid inside the tunnel. Revenue, fire and police officials are monitoring the rescue operations.
Behara’s wife Pushpalatha and his son are hoping that Gopal would come out safely but police fear for his safety.
The rescue operation is likely to go well into the night. Till now about 2,000 tonnes of debris was removed from the spot.
Some officials engaged in the rescue efforts talked about foul smell emanating from the tunnel but were not sure if it meant the worst.
What’s compounding the problem for the rescue teams is the boulder. Efforts to cut it and make way to Behara are fraught with danger as the personnel fear debris from such an operation could spill onto the other side.
Constant supply of oxygen is what is giving them hope. They believe if Behara can survive the heat and endure the hunger, there’s every chance of his coming out alive.
–Agencies