Daijiworld Media Network - Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Mar 2: The collapse of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel and the prolonged rescue operation for eight trapped workers has ignited a fierce political battle in Telangana. Both the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have launched scathing attacks on the ruling Congress, holding it accountable for the mishap.

While the Congress government, led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, faces criticism for alleged negligence, the opposition accuses it of endangering lives by proceeding with the project without proper planning. The delay in rescuing the trapped individuals further fueled the controversy, with opposition leaders slamming the CM for not visiting the accident site.

BRS and BJP leaders have accused the government of ignoring safety measures, questioning the absence of geological assessments before undertaking the project. BJP leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy credited the NDA government at the centre for deploying Army and NDRF teams for the rescue efforts. Meanwhile, BRS leader Harish Rao criticized the state government’s handling of the crisis, alleging a lack of oxygen supply to the trapped workers.

Countering the attacks, irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy blamed the previous BRS government for stalling the project for a decade, stating that timely completion could have prevented the disaster. He dismissed opposition leaders’ visits to the site as mere political theatrics and assured that rescue operations were being carried out with expert assistance.

The Congress government remains determined to complete the SLBC project, which aims to irrigate four lakh acres in Telangana. However, the incident has reignited debates over irrigation project mismanagement, with both Congress and BRS blaming each other for the state’s irrigation woes.