Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to complete the SLBC tunnel project by June 2028 while maintaining the highest safety standards for workers.
Chairing a high-level review meeting on the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Srisailam Left Bank Canal Project at the Secretariat, the Minister said the project would fulfil a long-pending promise to the drought-hit and fluoride-affected regions of south Telangana.
SLBC tunnel project work gathers pace
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the government would remove bottlenecks, resolve land acquisition issues, strengthen technical supervision and complete the tunnel and canal network together. Moreover, he said engineers had achieved nearly half a kilometre of progress after resuming tunnel work with advanced technology and observation techniques.
The Minister said work from the Devarkonda side was progressing steadily. Additionally, he said officials had adopted all safety measures for teams working on the Srisailam side. He added that three arm boomers had reached Mumbai port and would arrive at the project site by the end of the month. Consequently, the new equipment would accelerate construction.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the SLBC tunnel would draw 40 TMC of water from the Srisailam Reservoir to irrigate nearly four lakh acres. Furthermore, he said the revised administrative approval for the project stood at about ₹12,718 crore.
According to the Minister, the project will create irrigation potential for 4.01 lakh acres, provide drinking water to 618 fluoride-affected villages and meet industrial and other water requirements.
He also directed officials to work with clearly defined timelines. Finally, he instructed them to treat Tunnel-I, Tunnel-II, the Dindi component, balancing reservoirs and the canal network as one integrated project.