SLBC Tunnel Works to be Resumed by December 2027: Uttam Kumar Reddy
The NGRI will conduct a helicopter-borne aerial magnetic survey that will be completed this month to map underground rock structures and guide alignment corrections for safer tunnelling, Uttam said.
Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the government was committed to putting to use the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel from December 2027, and the tunneling work will resume soon.
He told reporters that work will restart ensuring that there are no cost overruns sticking to the previously revised estimates as soon as the current monsoon ends. The NGRI will conduct a helicopter-borne aerial magnetic survey that will be completed this month to map underground rock structures and guide alignment corrections for safer tunnelling, he said.
Work was halted on the project after the roof collapse in the inlet section of the tunnel in Nagarkurnool district earlier this February with eight people losing their lives in the accident. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the SLBC tunnel as a “ lifeline project for the southern districts” and a critical component in Telangana’s irrigation architecture connecting the Srisailam reservoir to Nalgonda district through a 43-kilometre long tunnel to deliver Krishna water for irrigation and drinking water needs in drought prone areas.