HYDERABAD: Work on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel is expected to resume sometime in the next two to three months and the government hopes that the tunnel excavation will be completed and the project ready for use in 2026.
The plan for taking forward the SLBC tunnel works was among the various projects in Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency and Nalgonda district that were reviewed at a meeting chaired by irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy at Jalasoudha, the department headquarters on Tuesday.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the last one year saw several steps to set right all that was wrong in the irrigation department which he said “was destroyed organizationally, structurally. Everything went haywire during 10 years of BRS party rule, and an example of this was the collapse of the Medigadda barrage.”
He said the Congress government, as part of setting things right, will be completing all pending promotions, transfers in the next two weeks. While the government will be proactive in attending to the concerns of the engineers, lackadaisical approach to work will not be tolerated, he said.
Based on complaints from the chief engineer (Nalgonda) and the local MLA, executive engineer Lakshman was suspended, he said, adding there would be zero tolerance towards neglect and inefficiency.
The Congress government has recruited 700 assistant executive engineers and has asked the Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC) to begin the process of filling another 1,300 vacancies in the department. “We also prioritised projects and will be completing several pending projects which will create maximum ayacut with minimal investments,” the minister said.
Venkat Reddy said once completed, the SLBC project will solve irrigation problems for four lakh acres in erstwhile Nalgonda district. Some spare parts required for the tunnel boring machine have arrived at the Chennai port and they will reach the project site in January and work is expected to resume from February, he said.
The SLBC tunnel is 44 km long, and just under 10km of the tunnelling is still to be completed. The project is designed to draw 30 TMCft of water from Krishna river from the foreshore of the Srisailam reservoir every year.
The meeting was attended by MLAs Balu Naik Nenavath (Devarakonda), Mandula Samel (Thungathurti), Bathula Laxma Reddy (Miryalaguda), principal secretary (irrigation) Rahul Bojja, special secretary Prashant Patil, engineer-in-chief (general) Anil Kumar among others.
