Telangana, Nation Now

9 people have died inside a hydroelectric plant in Telangana after a fire broke out at its under tunnel power house late last night.

Nineteen people were on shift when the fire started around 10.30 PM at unit one of the under tunnel power house of the Srisailam hydroelectric plant, which is near Telangana’s border with Andhra Pradesh. While 10 people managed to escape, nine others, including a division engineer, four assistant engineers, two junior plant attendants and two others from Amara Raja Batteries were trapped inside.

“As soon as the fire started, they tried to trip the units but that couldn’t happen. So we isolated the 400 KV input and all units were tripped,” Telangana Transco CMD D. Prabhakar Rao said.

According to initial reports, a short circuit at the underground hydroelectric power station situated at Srisailam dam’s left bank is suspected to have led to the fire.

“The project unit operates at multiple levels. Those in the control room are said to have managed to come out. Others at lower levels couldn’t come out because of the smoke. The current being switched off also hampered rescue and escape efforts,” said one official.

(NDTV feed)

Telangana Srisailam power plant fire: 9 persons feared trapped, CM Chandrashekhar Rao reviews situation

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— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) August 21, 2020