SLBC project to be a panacea for water-starved south Telangana

HYDERABADThe Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project would prove a panacea to the water-starved areas of south Telangana, particularly the erstwhile Nalgonda district, where generations of people had suffered devastating consequences of fluoride contamination, Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Saturday.Speaking at a public meeting organised at Nakrekal to celebrate 1,000 days in office for the Congress Government, he said the government was determined to complete the decades-old SLBC project irrespective of the obstacles encountered in its execution. “For decades, the people of erstwhile Nalgonda district have waited for the SLBC project. We are taking the project forward and will complete it by June 2028,” he reiterated.The Minister said completion of the tunnel would fundamentally improve the water availability in south Telangana and assume significance for Nalgonda, a region that had endured the scourge of fluorosis for generations. He said the government was simultaneously accelerating several other long-pending irrigation projects in erstwhile Nalgonda district.Responding to demands raised repeatedly by Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and Devarakonda MLA Balu Naik, the Minister said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had sanctioned ₹1,800 crore for the Dindi project and works had already commenced. He assured that the Brahmana Vellemla project too would be completed. Published - September 05, 2026 09:23 pm IST