Govt, system and we are responsible for this: Prakash Reddy on Telangana tunnel incident

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], February 23 (ANI): BJP leader Prakash Reddy on Sunday took responsibility for the SLBC (Srisailam Left Bank Canal) tunnel collapse, stating that the project had been delayed due to political reasons and that authorities must be held accountable for the incident.
Speaking on the situation, Reddy said, "SLBC was a very important project, particularly the 36-37 km tunnel. The completion of the project was delayed due to many political reasons. However, when the project was about to be completed, such a tragic incident happened there. The government is responsible, we and the system are responsible for this."
He told ANI that to rescue the people, particularly the engineers who are already in the tunnel, one SDRF team from Andhra Pradesh and two SDRF teams from Telangana have already reached the spot.
Meanwhile, Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy visited the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel to review the situation there on Sunday.
Earlier, Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the SLBC tunnel project is at least 20 years old and that it was suspected that a crack in the tunnel appeared, from which water started leaking out, flooding the area.
"The SLBC tunnel project is a very old project which started 20 years ago. Due to various impediments, the project is going very slowly, but when completed, the project is considered to be a boon for Telangana. When this incident took place, I was informed that due to a crack in the geological line, water started coming inside, but nobody took it seriously," the Telangana minister said.
"The American company project manager told me that he thought it was like a normal development and was going ahead with it. Then the small crack became bigger till water and mud rushed into the tunnel at once in a big way," he added.
According to the minister, around 70-80 people were working during the incident, and at least eight people are feared trapped on the other side.
On Saturday morning, a three-metre section of the roof of an under-construction stretch of the SLBC tunnel collapsed at the 14 km mark near Domalapenta in Nagarkurnool district, Telangana. The collapse occurred just four days after construction work had resumed following a lengthy hiatus. While some workers managed to escape, the eight remained trapped. (ANI)