Nine people, including five engineers of Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited, died inside the Srisailam Hydroelectric Project as fire erupted in panel boards of the plant while eleven others saved themselves by running out of the escape tunnel in the one-kilometre underground power plant.
At around 10.30 pm on Thursday, fire engulfed the panel boards of this 6 x 150 MW unit. A total of nine units are into power generation from Srisailam Dam in Egalapenta village in Nagarkurnool district of Telangana bordering Andhra Pradesh.
The unique aspect of this power project is that half of it lies in Telangana while half of it is in Andhra Pradesh. The left bank powerhouse is on the Telangana side of the reservoir while the Srisailam Dam now comes under Andhra Pradesh.
The fire started due to electric short circuit in the panel boards of the control room. Some of the employees even tried to douse the flames bravely as was seen in videos shot on mobile by one of the survivors. However, as the fire could not be controlled by extinguishers, those who could run towards safety on ground level were saved while those on other levels - nine of them - were not so lucky.
Among the dead are one Deputy Executive Engineer (DE) rank official, five Assistant Engineer (AE) rank officials, one attendant and two employees belonging to Amaron batteries who had gone there for some maintenance works.
All the nine dead bodies were found in the escape tunnel and were found to have died due to asphyxiation and burn injuries. The rescue operations were carried out by the CISF apart from local police and fire officials from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Additional Director General of Police (CID) Govind Singh will head the investigation. Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia has been announced for DE Srinivas Goud's family while Rs 25 lakh each for families of other victims.
The Chief Minister also announced one job each to the families of the deceased and also department-wise benefits. The medical expenses of all those injured will be borne by the Telangana Government.
