HYDERABAD: The Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project, which was conceived in 1980, has been facing rough weather. Due to the nature of the work, the project has been delayed and will take another three years to complete if there are no further problems.
The united Andhra Pradesh government decided in 1990 to go for a tunnel scheme to draw Krishna waters from the foreshore of the Srisailam reservoir using foreign technology.
At that time, it was estimated that the 43 km-long tunnel work would be completed in eight years. Though a GO was issued in 2005, the actual work started in 2007. Once the Tunnel Boring Machine dug the tunnel, it was to be abandoned in the tunnel itself. The machine was brought from the USA. However, the TBM had some problems during the work. The officials tried to repair the bearings of the TBM but later brought another one, which also had problems after digging 1.5 km and had to undergo repairs. Again, the agency engaged another TBM.
Meanwhile, during COVID, the operators and engineers from other countries left for their native places. Besides, there were allegations by the Congress that the previous BRS government did not allocate sufficient funds during its 10-year tenure.
In 2018, the then CM K Chandrashekar Rao announced that it would take another three years to complete the tunnel work. But this did not happen due to unforeseen incidents. After Congress came to power, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who hails from the erstwhile Nalgonda district, showed great interest in completing the project to provide irrigation and drinking water to the district. But, after the resumption of work four days ago, the accident occurred in the tunnel.