SLBC Tunnel | The stage is set for massive exploitation in Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) works. Thousands of crores of rupees have increased for some work than the original work. Within a year, the budget has tripled. In the latest review, Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy himself revealed the increase in estimated cost.
SLBC Tunnel | Hyderabad, July 6 (Namaste Telangana): The stage is set for massive exploitation in Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) works. Thousands of crores of rupees have increased for some work than the original work. Within a year, the budget has tripled. In the latest review, Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy himself revealed the increase in estimated cost.
The SLBC project was designed to divert Krishna water from Srisailam Reservoir to Nalgonda District. In 2005, the then Congress government granted administrative approvals for the project works through JVO-140 at a cost of Rs 2,292 crore. Jayaprakash Associates Limited has agreed that the project works will be completed in five years, i.e. by August 2010, with a total cost of Rs.1,925 crores. So far the contract agency has been extended six times.
As per the deadline given last time, it has to be completed by June 2026. However, a total of 43.50 kilometers of tunnel has to be dug from Srisailam Reservoir to Dindi Reservoir as part of the SLBC project. At the same time, the tunnel works were undertaken from both sides from the inlet i.e. Srisailam Reservoir embankment at Acchampeta mandal Domalapenta and the outlet i.e. Mannewaripalle of Mahabubnagar district. After digging a 13.93 km tunnel from the inlet side, the tunnel suddenly collapsed in February 2025.
Eight workers lost their lives in the accident and only two bodies have been recovered so far. Six workers are still missing. On the other hand, due to the accident, the works of the inlet were stopped. A tunnel of about 22 kilometers was dug from the outlet side. At present, there is a situation where the work of the Tunnel Boring Mission (TBM) cannot continue due to repairs. So far, 34.372 kilometers of tunnel work has been completed from both the inlet and outlet sides, while another 9.560 kilometers have to be excavated.
In the background of not continuing the work with TBM, it was decided to complete the work by drilling and blasting method. Accordingly, last October, the officials prepared and submitted proposals revising the cost of the project to Rs.4,658 crore, which was approved by the government. Jio-290 has been issued by Govt. Accordingly, the said agency has been entrusted with the responsibility of completing the remaining 9.56 km tunnel works. Recently, the project cost has been increased to Rs.12,718 crore before the end of the year. This means that it will cost about Rs. 1,200 crore per kilometer! It is noteworthy that more funds are needed for the completion of the remaining works than the total estimated cost of the project. Due to this, there are suspicions that massive exploitation has been opened in the name of tunnel works.
We will complete SLBC by 2028: Minister Uttam
Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy once again revealed that the SLBC project will be completed by June 2028. He explained that there will be no compromise on the safety of workers. The progress of the SLBC project was reviewed in the secretariat along with high level officials. The officials were instructed to complete the construction of Dindi project, balancing reservoirs and canals along with the tunnel as well as the necessary funds, land acquisition, technical and administrative approvals for the completion of the works.
He said that the work is progressing satisfactorily from the Devarakonda side and half a kilometer has already been completed and from the Srisailam side also the work is being carried out following safety standards. It has been revealed that three state-of-the-art arm boomer machines will arrive by the end of the month to speed up the tunnel works. The revised estimated cost of this project is around Rs 12,718 crore and there should be no compromise on quality standards. He said that the government’s target is to complete all the works by June 2028. Irrigation Department Special Chief Secretary E Sridhar, tunnel expert Colonel Parikshit Mehra, Engineer-in-Chief (General) Ramesh Babu, senior officials and representatives of construction companies participated in the review.
