Hyderabad: Telangana irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project would prove to be a panacea for the water-related problems of southern Telangana, particularly the erstwhile Nalgonda district, where generations of people had suffered the devastating consequences of fluoride contamination.Addressing a public meeting at Nakrekal after chief minister A Revanth Reddy inaugurated the newly constructed 100-bed hospital on Saturday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Congress govt was determined to complete the decades-old SLBC tunnel irrespective of the obstacles encountered during its execution.“For decades, the people of the erstwhile Nalgonda district have waited for the SLBC tunnel. Whatever the hurdles and difficulties, with the support of CM Revanth Reddy, we are taking the project forward. We will complete the SLBC tunnel works by June 2028,” he declared.Uttam Kumar Reddy said completion of the tunnel would fundamentally improve the water situation in southern Telangana and assume particular significance for Nalgonda, a region that had endured the scourge of fluorosis for generations.He said the state govt was simultaneously accelerating several other long-pending irrigation projects in the erstwhile Nalgonda district.Responding to demands repeatedly raised by Munugode MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy and Devarakonda MLA Balu Naik, the minister said the CM had sanctioned ₹1,800 crore for the Dindi project. Works had already commenced and would now be accelerated to ensure its completion, he said.Uttam Kumar Reddy also assured that the Brahmana Vellemla project, along with the pending projects in the region, would be completed. He said the govt was committed to finishing the entire network of pending irrigation works so that their intended benefits reached farmers without further delay.On the Musi project, the irrigation minister said necessary steps were being taken to ensure adequate water releases and provide complete irrigation support to the Musi ayacut.
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