Minister wants officials to speed up preparatory work to resume SLBC tunnel excavation

HYDERABAD

Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy asked officials concerned to fast-track the resumption of works on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel by treating it as a ‘very high priority’ work of the State government.

At a high-level meeting held here on Friday, the Minister stated that the process to restart works had already been set in motion. A meeting with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka would be held shortly to secure clearances and support from the Finance, Energy and other related departments.

The Minister recalled that an expert committee was constituted after the tunnel collapse accident and that work was being resumed based on its recommendations. He expressed regret that the incomplete 9-km stretch of the tunnel was stopping the State from drawing water from the bottom of the Srisailam reservoir through gravity.

“This is forcing the government to spend nearly ₹750 crore annually on the energy bills to lift the water, affecting several regions, particularly the tribal and fluoride-affected areas of the combined Nalgonda district. The fact that we can bring water from the bottom of Srisailam means we don’t even need to wait for the dam to fill. It will serve some of the most backward areas. It is unfortunate that such a crucial lifeline is stuck for just 9 km of work”, the Minister said.

Stating that the government had decided to proceed with advanced technology, the Minister explained that the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) would conduct an aerial electromagnetic survey using helicopter-mounted equipment capable of mapping up to one km below ground level, as the first step towards resuming the work halted in February this year.

“The helicopter surveys are necessary because of the difficult terrain and there’s no other practical way to get the data required. This will also give us a good idea of the fault lines and structural challenges”, Mr. Uttam Reddy noted and added that the remaining tunnelling operations covering nearly 10 km would be resumed immediately.

Further, he explained that the Geological Survey of India (GSI) would be involved for conducting an aerial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey to ensure precise planning. There would be two surveys with different objectives.