Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday announced the immediate restart of the SLBC tunnel project. He chaired a high-level review at the Secretariat and said the works would resume using new tunnelling methods.
The tunnel is part of the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project and spans 44 km. It aims to irrigate 3 lakh acres and supply water to fluoride-hit villages. Officials have completed 13.94 km from the inlet and 20.4 km from the outlet, leaving 9.8 km. The Minister directed work from both ends and ordered round-the-clock operations.
SLBC tunnel to move ahead with new tech, salary hike, and full funding
Crews have removed the damaged Tunnel Boring Machine from the site. Citing hard rock conditions, officials chose to switch from TBM to advanced manual methods. Scientists from NGRI helped identify weak zones through a helicopter-based geophysical survey.
The department will now use early warning systems and 3D monitoring to detect unstable rock. Based on forecasts, crews will install support structures in advance. JP Infra will continue as the contractor.
To protect project funds, the government set up an escrow account. The Finance and Legal departments have cleared it, allowing targeted payments. The Minister also ordered clearance of pending contractor dues.
To boost morale, Uttam Kumar Reddy approved a 25% pay hike for project staff below executive engineer level. He told officials to mobilise teams quickly and divert resources from other sites if needed. All design and safety decisions must be taken on-site to avoid delay.
The Minister said he would review progress every Monday. The meeting included Principal Secretary Rahul Bojja, tunnel expert Col. Parikshit Mehra, Engineer-in-Chief Amjad Hussain, and retired Irrigation Advisor Lt. Gen. Haripal Singh.