Months after tunnel collapse killed 8 workers, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy says will complete project

After launching the survey, which the CM described as very advanced and sophisticated, he said the government is committed to completing the long-pending project.

Reddy said that due to delays, the project cost has escalated to Rs 4,500 crore.

The Chief Minister came down heavily on the previous BRS government for not completing the SLBC tunnel works during its 10 years in power. “The SLBC project was sanctioned in 1983. The Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government started Tunnel-1 and Tunnel-2 works in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh in 2004 at a cost of Rs 1,968 crore. After KCR (K Chandrashekar Rao) became CM in 2014, the works stalled,” Revanth Reddy said.

He noted that the project would have been completed at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore had the KCR government completed the work. He also criticised KCR for “not taking up even a single project on the river Krishna”.

The Chief Minister said Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy was making all-out efforts to complete the SLBC project by roping in Army officials to dig the tunnels without any trouble. “It was unfortunate that eight workers died during the excavation of the tunnel, and the government supported the bereaved family members,” he said.