Hyderabad, March 10: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the family of Gurpreet Singh, whose body was recovered from the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel in Nagarkurnool district on Sunday night.

Expressing his condolences over the tragic death of the worker involved in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel construction, both Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy extended their sympathies to the grieving family.

The remains found in the tunnel were identified as Gurpreet Singh, a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operator from Punjab working with the American company Robbins. He was among the eight workers who were trapped when a section of the tunnel roof collapsed on February 22.

In a gesture of support, the Chief Minister announced Rs 25 lakh as an ex-gratia to the family. Gurpreet Singh’s body has been sent to his hometown in Punjab.

The body was discovered on the 16th day of the rescue operation. Rescue teams, aided by cadaver dogs from Kerala, identified the location of the human remains at D-2 point, approximately 100 meters from the collapse site, in the final stretch of the 14-km-long tunnel. The dogs had detected human presence under the rubble, leading to the careful excavation of the area and the recovery of the body.

Search efforts continue for the remaining seven workers trapped in the tunnel. These include four laborers, two engineers, and two machine operators from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Jammu & Kashmir. They were caught in the tunnel when part of the roof collapsed on February 22. The trapped workers are Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu, and Anuj Sahu (all from Jharkhand).

Rescue operations, involving both state and central government agencies, have been ongoing for the past 15 days in efforts to locate and rescue the missing workers.