SLBC Tunnel Will Be Ready by June 2028: Uttam
“Equipment required to speed up work in the inlet side at Srisailam has reached Mumbai port and will be arriving at the site by the end of this month,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Hyderabad:Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said that the Srisailam left bank canal (SLBC) tunnel will be ready for operations by June 2028, to begin drawing water from the foreshore of the Srisailam reservoir to provide drinking water to 618 fluoride-affected villages, and irrigate 4 lakh acres of agricultural land.
Chairing a review on the Alimineti Madhava Reddy (AMR) SLBC project, the minister said the government would clear any bottlenecks, resolve land acquisition issues, strengthen technical supervision, and ensure that the tunnel and canal networks are completed together. "The government is committed to completing the SLBC tunnel by June 2028. Whatever has to be done will be done,” he said.
He said since resumption of SLBC tunnel work using advanced and safer technologies instead of using tunnel boring machines, work in the outlet end of the tunnel on the Devarkonda side was progressing steadily. “All precautions are being taken to ensure safety of the teams at work on Srisailam side too,” he said.
“Equipment required to speed up work in the inlet side at Srisailam has reached Mumbai port and will be arriving at the site by the end of this month,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Work on the tunnel’s inlet section had stopped for year following the February 2025 collapse in which eight tunnel workers had died. While keeping track of the pace of work was important, the minister cautioned that speed should never come at the cost of safety.
Directing officials and contractors to adopt the highest safety standards, Uttam Kumar Reddy called for adequate lighting throughout the tunnel, deployment of senior geologists, engineers and technical experts, and continuous quality monitoring. “Protecting the workforce while meeting the project deadline was non-negotiable,” he said.
