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Journalism of Courage
As the rescue teams continue to grapple with adverse conditions inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district – where eight men have been trapped after a portion of the tunnel’s roof collapsed on Saturday morning – a political slugfest has erupted with the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) accusing the ruling Congress of being more interested in the upcoming elections for the state Legislative Council elections than focusing on the rescue operation.
Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is overseeing the efforts to pull out the trapped workers, hit back at the BRS, saying that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been monitoring the situation on an hourly basis and has deputed him and minister Jupally Krishna Rao to coordinate the rescue efforts. “I strongly condemn the BRS leadership for attempting to politicise the SLBC tunnel incident instead of supporting the rescue efforts,’’ Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
The MLC elections for the Graduates and Teachers constituencies will be held on February 27. The Congress, the BRS, and the BJP have mounted intense campaigns for their candidates to clinch the seats. On Monday, Revanth Reddy addressed a public meeting at Mancherial and Nizamabad as part of the Congress’s campaign for these polls.
Charging that Revanth Reddy was “missing” from the tunnel site but was addressing multiple public meetings, BRS working president K T Rama Rao or KTR, and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao criticised the CM for “giving priority to the MLC election campaign rather than overseeing the rescue operation”.
“The CM and the Congress government are indifferent to the fate of the eight persons trapped in that tunnel,’’ Harish Rao alleged.
KTR attacked the CM, alleging that he was busy touring the districts for the MLC electioneering but has avoided going to the mishap site. “The lives of eight people hang in balance and the CM is not serious about the disaster. What can be expected from this administration?’’ he asked.
In a statement, KTR stated: “Is this the value given to human life under the Congress rule? Does the Congress care only about seeking votes and money?”.
Raising concerns about the “lack of leadership”, KTR likened Revanth Reddy to emperor Nero “who fiddled while Rome burned”. “While the people of Telangana suffer, the Chief Minister is more interested in political gains than in providing support to grieving families,” he claimed. He urged the Congress government to address the crisis at hand failing which, he added, the people would teach them a lesson.
Rebutting the BRS’s allegations, Uttam Kumar Reddy said: “We have reviewed the relief operations with representatives from the Army, Navy, and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The government is putting in all possible efforts to save the eight lives inside the tunnel. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is personally monitoring the situation, and the entire administration is on high alert. Since the incident occurred, the government has been actively engaged in rescue efforts. I rushed to the accident site on Saturday, held consultations with disaster relief teams, Army officials, and engineering experts, and ensured the immediate deployment of NDRF and SDRF teams,’’ he said.
The Irrigation Minister said he returned to the site on Sunday morning, where he held a high-level review meeting with engineering officials and the contracting agency for the tunnel project. He said his Congress colleague Jupally Krishna Rao was also present at the accident site to supervise the rescue operation.
While condemning the BRS leaders for their remarks, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS government was responsible for “neglecting” the SLBC project for over a decade, which, he said, may have contributed to the Saturday accident. “The BRS government ignored this project (SLBC) for ten years, and now they are trying to shift the blame. It is laughable that those who prioritised commissions over project execution are now pointing fingers. Tunnel construction always carries the risk of leakages, and similar incidents occurred under the BRS rule as well. Instead of offering solutions, they are engaging in baseless political criticism,” he said.
The Irrigation Minister urged the BRS leaders to refrain from indulging in “petty politics” at a time of such a crisis, maintaining that rescuing the trapped workers is currently the Congress government’s “top priority”. “We are focused on saving lives. At this crucial hour, I urge everyone to support the ongoing efforts instead of making irresponsible statements,” he added.
