On the night of the 20th of August, a massive fire broke out at the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation.
The fire broke out in an electricity panel of Srisailam Left Bank Power Station (SLBP) late on Thursday night.
The SLBP is situated on the Srisailam reservoir on Krishna river, a joint irrigation project between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
G. Jagadeeshwar Reddy, the Power Minister of Telangana, rushed to the spot and reviewed the situation due to the fire.
According to sources, nine employees were trapped inside the power station. There were 30 workers, while 6 were rescued by the rescue team, 15 escaped through emergency exit. However, nine employees inside the tunnel are still trapped inside the tunnel. Rescued employees are deputy executive engineer Pawan Kumar, plant junior assistant Ramakrishna, junior engineers Mathru, Krishna Reddy and Venkataiah and driver Palankaiah.
All of them were shifted to TSGenco hospital at Eegalapenta closer to the power house and were said to be out of danger.
On the other hand, Deputy Engineers Srinivas, Venkatrao, assistant engineers Fatima, Sunder, Kiran and Rambabu and two electrical engineers of a private company in Hyderabad were among those trapped inside.
The plant has two entrances and one exit and the smoke engulfed in the entire stretch of the power station.
Instead of reducing,the flames stretched outside by the morning of the 21st of August.
Meanwhile several fire extinguishers are still trying to douse the fire shed but unable to control the fire.
Jagdish Reddy who is reviewing the situation said, “It is an unfortunate incident. The fire started in the first unit of the hydel power generation station. Four panels are damaged due to the fire. Ten people have come out the tunnel, nine are still trapped.”
Speaking about the rescue operation, Mr. Jagdish said, “They (rescue team) have tried to enter inside at least three time but have failed. The smoke is so heavy that rescue workers could not proceed further despite wearing oxygen masks.” He also said, “The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were also summoned but they also made three unsuccessful attempts to enter the tunnel till now. Rescue teams from Singareni Collieries are also expected to join the operation.”
The Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao also expressed shock over the incident. He wished for the safe return of the trapped staff members and is in touch with Jagadish Reddy asking about the rescue operation.
Rescue operations are underway.
Stay tuned for further updates.
