Telangana tunnel collapse: Search ops continue for 25th day to locate seven missing persons
Nagarkurnool (Telangana) (PTI): The search operation to locate the seven persons trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel continued for the 25th day on Tuesday.
Personnel from the NDRF, SDRF, state-run miner Singareni Collieries, rat miners, and others intensified the search efforts using the necessary equipment, officials said.
The teams conducted search operations at the 'D1' and 'D2' points, which were identified as possible locations of human presence.
On Monday, cadaver dogs inspected the 'D1' and 'D2' spots.
Rescue personnel continued working to remove parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which were obstructing the search operation. The excavation process was accelerated with the help of personnel and an excavator, while de-watering efforts continued simultaneously.
The body of Gurpreet Singh, a TBM operator, was recovered on March 9 and handed over to his family in Punjab. Seven others remain trapped inside the tunnel.
A total of eight individuals—including engineers and labourers—were trapped in the SLBC project tunnel when a portion of it collapsed on February 22.
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EC, UIDAI experts to soon begin technical consultations on Aadhaar-voter card seeding
New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI): The EC on Tuesday said linkage of voter cards with Aadhaar would be done according to the prevailing law and the Supreme Court's directions and added technical consultations between its experts and UIDAI for the exercise would "begin soon".
The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday held a meeting with the Union home secretary, legislative secretary (in the law ministry), MeitY secretary and the UIDAI CEO on the issue of voter card-Aadhaar seeding.
The government told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply in April 2023 that linking Aadhaar details with voter identity cards had not started and noted that the exercise was "process driven" and no target or timelines was set for the proposed exercise.
Names of those who do not link their Aadhaar details with the voters' list will not be struck off the electoral rolls, the government had asserted.
In a statement on Tuesday, the poll authority said that while voting rights could only be granted to a citizen of India, according to Article 326 of the Constitution, Aadhaar established a person's identity.
"Therefore, it was decided that the linking of elector photo identity card (EPIC) with Aadhaar will be done only as per the provisions of Article 326 of the Constitution, sections 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and in line with the Supreme Court judgment (of 2023)," it said.
Accordingly, technical consultations between UIDAI and the EC's technical experts "are to begin soon", it added.
The law allows voluntary seeding of voter rolls with the Aadhaar database.
Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, as amended by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, provides for electoral registration officers to require an existing or prospective elector to provide Aadhaar for establishing identity on a voluntary basis.
