HYDERABAD: Former Minister T Harish Rao strongly criticised the state government for its alleged failures in handling the SLBC tunnel rescue operations.
On Thursday, Harish led a delegation of BRS leaders to the SLBC site. However, police initially restricted their entry, prompting the BRS leaders to stage a protest at Domalapenta. Later, the police allowed a few BRS leaders to visit the site.
Speaking to reporters later, Harish stated: “For six days, the government has done nothing. Not a single effective step has been taken to rescue the trapped workers. This is criminal negligence,” adding, “The families of the trapped workers were in distress while the government remained in deep slumber,” he alleged.
“What should have been done in 24 hours has not been done in six days. It is a complete breakdown of governance,” Harish Rao remarked.
Harish wondered who was leading the rescue operations. “When Congress leaders entered the tunnel, they were allowed in without any issue. But when we, as former ministers and MLAs with experience in irrigation and power projects, tried to visit, we were stopped,” he alleged.
The former MLA also highlighted the previous BRS government’s contributions to the SLBC project. “During Congress rule, Rs 3,300 crore was spent on SLBC. Under BRS, Rs 3,900 crore worth of work was completed — Rs 600 crore more than what Congress spent. Despite challenges like the Covid pandemic and water seepage, we completed 12 km of tunneling and brought the project to 90% completion. Now, Congress ministers are standing before cameras and lying without shame,” he said.
‘Four major irrigation projects failed under Cong’
Harish accused the government of mismanaging irrigation projects, citing the collapse of Pedda Vagu, the Sunkishala project, the Vattem pumphouse in Palamuru and the SLBC tunnel— all within 15 months. “They can’t even maintain existing projects, let alone complete new ones,” he alleged.
He also slammed the government for allowing AP to divert 10,000 cusecs of Krishna water daily. “Why haven’t they objected or approached the Krishna River Management Board?” he questioned. He urged the government to act swiftly, consult experts, and deploy additional teams to rescue the workers.