Hyderabad: Telangana irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday, February 27, condemned Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader especially Harish Rao who criticised rescue operations at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel which collapsed, leading to eight workers getting buried in the tunnel.
The Telangana irrigation minister blamed the previous BRS government for the SLBC tunnel tragedy. He said that the BRS neglected the SLBC project for a decade and and accused it of abandoning the work and failing to complete the project. He stated that had the works finished on time, it would have provided 30 TMC of water to Telangana, benefiting three to four lakh acres of agricultural land in Nalgonda.
He also slammed ex-irrigation minister Harish Rao, saying his advice is not needed. “Does he think he knows more than the top tunnel engineers. Is he trying to insult the Indian Army, Navy commandos, BRO teams and other experts who are risking their lives in this rescue?” he questioned. The Telangana minister dismissed the BRS leaders’ visit to the SLBC tunnel accident site and called it “political theatrics”.
The minister further accused ex-chief Telangana minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and Harish Rao of crippling the irrigation sector by spending Rs 1.81 lakh crore on projects that never provided water. “The Palamuru-Rangareddy project cost Rs 27,500 crore, yet not a single acre received water. The Kaleshwaram project, which they proudly built, collapsed, and now they have the audacity to question the Congress government,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Concrete plan in place to ensure safety of SLBC tunnel survivors
Uttam Kumar Reddy also said that following an extensive field assessment over the past two days, a concrete plan of action has now been finalised to ensure the safety of both rescuers and survivors at the SLBC tunnel site.
“The assessment yesterday was that the people going in to rescue and bring out the survivors would themselves be at great risk. Yesterday and today, we have assessed the situation thoroughly and devised clear strategies to minimise risk for the rescuers and move forward efficiently. We now have a well-defined plan, and we are accelerating the rescue and relief operations with greater speed,” he said.
Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy asserted that the rescue would be completed within two days and that new strategies were being implemented to mitigate challenges inside the tunnel. “Based on field inspections conducted over the last two days, we have made key decisions, and we are now going ahead with them. We are also exploring alternate access routes, including approaching from the side and the main exit, to expedite the rescue,” he added.
