Hyderabad: A major fire broke out in one of the underground hydel power units of Srisailam project in Telangana on Thursday night, trapping nine persons.
The incident occurred at the fourth panel in the first hydel power unit of the left power house. About 15-20 persons were on duty at the time of the incident. While 15 staff came out immediately, nine reportedly were stuck in the power house.
Officials said a short circuit in one of the underground hydel power unit situated of Srisailam project led to a fire, trapping at least eight persons. The short circuit was reportedly followed by an explosion in unit 4 of the power house.
Nine employees of Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (TSGenco) are trapped inside the under-tunnel Srisailam Left Bank Power Station (SLBP), officials said.
The SLBP is on the Telangana side of the Srisailam reservoir on Krishna river, a joint irrigation project between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The power house was constructed in the huge tunnel under the Nallamala forests adjacent to the reservoir, which is presently brimming with heavy inflows into the river forcing the authorities to lift all the gates to discharge water.