NALGONDA/HYDERABAD: A sidewall of the under-construction Sunkishala project has collapsed, submerging the pump house. Fortunately, no loss of life was reported in the incident that occurred on August 1 but came to light on Thursday when a video clip went viral. The HMWSSB said that there will be no disruption in the supply of drinking water to Hyderabad due to this incident.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that an inquiry has been ordered and action would be taken against those responsible. The HMWSSB too said that an inquiry committee with senior engineers has been constituted to probe the incident. The executive director, revenue director and project director will be members of the panel.
According to sources, heavy inflows into the Nagarjunasagar Project and delay in constructing of gates before the Sunkishala project resulted in the collapse of the sidewall. Fortunately, labourers working at the site were about to change their shift when the incident occurred. Batches of a hundred labourers have been working in three shifts at the site.
The Sunkishala scheme was taken up for diverting Krishna water to Hyderabad from the dead storage of NSP. As part of the scheme, a concrete sidewall was being built to prevent water from entering the tunnels.
According to eyewitnesses, if the incident had occurred half an hour earlier or later, it would have led to many casualties.
Not only Godavari, BRS didn’t even spare Krishna, says Bhatti
In 2001–03, during the Chandrababu Naidu regime, the Sunkishala scheme was set aside and the first phase of the Krishna water scheme to the city was completed through Alimineti Madhava Reddy (Srisailam Left Bank Canal) Project (AMRP). The BRS regime took up the Sunkishala project by allocating Rs 2,215 crore. Work continued uninterrupted till December 2023. After the Congress came to power, the pace became tardy, at best. About 60% of the work has been completed, the Board said.
HMWSSB clarifies
In a statement, the HMWSSB said that the Sunkishala intake well project is a crucial component of the Krishna Drinking Water Supply Project (KDWSP) is aimed at addressing the long-term drinking water requirements of the GHMC and Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration areas until 2050. Water Board sources said that the collapse of the sidewall would further delay completion of the project by two months to May 2025.
Every summer, the HMWSSB used to set up pump sets for emergencies on the bank of NSP in Puttamgandi to lift raw water from Akkampally Balancing Reservoir Canal. However, it became difficult for the Water Board to supply uninterrupted water in summer during drought-like situations. In 2021, the BRS government decided to construct an independent raw water intake well from dead storage at Sunkishala on the banks of the NSP. The Water Board started the project on June 11, 2021.
Bhatti blames BRS
Responding to the report, the deputy CM said that an inquiry has been ordered into the collapse of the sidewall and action would be taken once the report was available. He recalled that the Sunkishala project was taken up by the previous BRS government on July 11, 2021 and the sidewall was completed in July 2023.
“We thought the BRS did a shoddy job in Kaleshwaram, Medigadda and Sundilla. Now it’s evident that not only Godavari, they did not spare even the River Krishna. With the collapse of Sunkishala sidewall, the inferior quality work has been exposed,” Vikramarka said.
He held the BRS government responsible for faulty design of Sunkishala project walls and said that the pink party was trying to pin the blame on the Congress regime.
“The people of Telangana have taught a lesson to BRS leaders. If the BRS continues to engage in false propaganda, the people would teach even more bitter lessons to that party,” he said.