Chennai rains: Two men stuck inside 60m trench in Velachery not rescued after 3 days

The trench had been dug to construct a building on Five Furlong Road in Velachery, when a portion of the land caved in after heavy rains due to Cyclone Michaung on December 4. Junior engineer Jayaseelan and Naresh, a 21-year-old employee at the nearby auto LPG gas station, were in a container that was being used as an office when the land caved into the trench.

One report said that the rescue effort is in its final stages. More than 50 feet of water have been drained out. There seem to be about three feet of water above the container in which one of them, Jayaseelan is trapped. The challenge is the slush, but once the water is cleared, our personnel will try to get in, said an official with the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services.

Since Wednesday, a team from L&T have helped in the rescue along with their high-powered electrical submersible pumps to pump out and discharge the water.

According to reports, despite a cyclone warning and an advisory from the government to declare a holiday on Monday, the private contractor, Green Tech Structural Constructions, had asked workers to report for duty at their under-construction site.

Rescue operations drag on

The rescue operation here is focussed on trying to drain out the water in the trench using pumps after which they hope to locate the container under which the two men are suspected to be trapped.

Media reports said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which made a rescue attempt on Monday and Tuesday, discontinued their efforts on Wednesday.

At the site, small groups of officials and staff from the city police, Greater Chennai Corporation, metro water, Tangedco and NNeyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) are involved in the rescue operations. But, there does not seem to be any coordinated effort to work out a rescue plan. There was no rescue expert on the site and nobody had an idea how much time they had left.

After three days, the rescuers had managed to pump out water from around eight metres of the pit. According to officials at the site, another six metres of water had to be removed.

Media reports said that if it had been any other stagnant body of water, the process would have been quicker. However, as they removed the water, they also noticed that the water was charged.

Meanwhile, the NLC team has been trying to pump out the water and reach the trapped duo. They have been running 25KW pumps to drain out the water for the past two days.

Anxious family members

Meanwhile, the families of both these men are worried and have parked themselves outside the trench on the opposite footpath. They complain that there is a lack of urgency on the part of the authorities. Jayaseelan's wife is pregnant, while 21-year-old Naresh's house in Velachery, has been completely flooded in Monday’s rains. But, the family are not worried about their belongings and is only focussed on taking Naresh back home.