Koraput: The district administration has failed to rescue the two excavator operators trapped inside a heap of boulders since May 31 at a stone quarry near Bariput in the district even after using all its resources.

The administration, which was forced to suspend the rescue operation on Sunday evening because of heavy rain in the area, resumed it on Monday morning with help of two separate teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and the National Disaster Response Force, along with local police and technicians, but in vain.

"We had pinned hope that the trapped duo Ghanashyam Guru and Sanjay Das would be rescued on Monday, but it didn't happened. Though two cranes and one excavator were engaged in the operation, but it failed to remove the boulders as dislodging of boulders at the downhill might led to running down of the huge ones from the hilltop," said Jeypore sub-collector Loknath Dalbehera.

"It may take a day or two as the boulders are being removed very cautiously to ensure that it might not lead to another mishap," he said.

Besides, the administration has also failed to reach on any conclusion whether the trapped duo are alive. "The life-detection equipment were sent into around 10 feet deep of the heap of boulders but couldn't find anything," he said.

The accident took place around 6pm on Thursday when the two drivers were removing boulders from the quarry.

The stones extracted from the quarry were used at the Telangiri irrigation project. The dam of the project lies at a distance of about 500 metres from the quarry.