A key step has been taken in the SLBC tunnel works. The difficult geographical area that had become a serious obstacle to excavation has been overcome. This has paved the way for increasing the speed of the work. The government has decided to make additional machinery available and speed up the work further. Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the goal is to provide water through the tunnel by June 2028.

The minister held a long review with public representatives and high officials of the three districts of the joint Nalgonda district on Sunday. He inquired about the progress of key irrigation projects including SLBC. If this tunnel is completed, more than 30 TMC of water will be provided to drought-affected areas.

The total length of the tunnel is 43.968 kilometers, and 79 percent of the work has been completed so far. Another 9.1 kilometers of excavation is to be undertaken. In the last five to six months, about 700 meters of work has been completed on the inlet and outlet routes. The minister said that crossing the most critical shear zone is key to this progress.

It is known that eight workers lost their lives in February last year during the excavation of the tunnel. Due to this, safety is currently being given top priority. Special protective arrangements have been made in places where there are risks of weak terrain and rockfall. A protective shield is being installed with 140 mm thick pipes and excavation is continuing.

Currently, an average of seven to seven and a half meters of excavation is being done per day. While a three-arm drilling machine is working at the outlet, another machine will be made available at the inlet in October. A special train being brought from Germany is expected to arrive by the end of this month. This will allow the soil and rocks excavated inside the tunnel to be moved out faster.

Currently, it takes 20 to 24 hours to complete a phase of excavation work. The authorities aim to reduce this time to ten hours with new machines and better transportation facilities. The minister ordered that the work be further accelerated from the end of October. He made it clear that the project should be completed within the stipulated time frame without any compromise on the safety of the workers.