Jammu family anxiously awaits return of son trapped in Telangana tunnel

Jammu, Feb 25 (PTI) Four days after eight workers got trapped in a partially collapsed SLBC tunnel in Telangana, a family near the international border in Jammu are eagerly awaiting safe return of their son and prayed for speeding up the rescue efforts.

Sunny Singh, 32, was working as a machine operator at the site and was among the eight workers trapped inside the partially collapsed tunnel in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district on Saturday.

Despite relentless efforts by the Indian Army, the Navy, the NDRF and other agencies, no breakthrough has been achieved so far in the rescue operations as the teams had to navigate through thick muck, tangled iron rods and cement blocks to reach the accident spot in the tunnel to extricate the trapped persons.

The relatives have been making a beeline to the family living in Gurha Manhasan village in Pargwal area on the India-Pakistan border, 40 kms from here, offering prayers for his safety and giving hope of their reunion.

Singh’s father Ram, a retired soldier, is holding back his emotions, while his mother Chanchalo Devi and sisters Anjali and Radha are terribly upset along with their younger brother Rajesh. Singh’s wife Deepti had shifted to her parent’s home.

“We have had no news about him for the last four days and are looking forward to hearing good news soon. One of our relatives, who is also working there, was the one who informed us about the incident,” Rajesh told PTI.

He said the company had not contacted them so far and the wait is very painful for the entire family.

“I only want my son to return home safe and sound. It has been four days and he must be hungry. I appeal to the government to get him out as soon as possible,” Devi said.

She appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speed up the rescue operation to get the eight trapped children safely out of the tunnel.

“We were talking to him on an almost daily basis, but we did not talk with him on that fateful day,” the mother said with tears rolling down her eyes.

Ram said that he came to know about the incident on February 22 itself at 2.30 pm.

“The son of my uncle is working in the same company and he informed us about the incident. We left for the state but returned from Amritsar after our relative informed us that the company had asked us to wait at your home.”

Radha said that Sunny was planning to return home in April to complete the work of his under-construction house.