The Telangana government has convened a high-level meeting, that will also be attended by leaders of parties in the Assembly, on Thursday to discuss the fate of Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project whose works have come to a halt as the contracting firm is unwilling to resume them till it is paid Rs. 723 crore as price adjustment to meet cost escalation.
Among others, the meeting will discuss whether to float fresh tenders for the project or meet the cost escalation as demanded by the firm – JP Associates. The meeting will also discuss the financial impact on other projects, which are also faced with cost escalation, if the demand of JP Associates is to be met.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made an announcement about the meeting during a discussion on the project in Assembly. Vowing to complete the project at any cost, Mr. Rao told the House that he did not have a “magic wand” to see that the works were over in less than two years because it was a technology intensive project where the machine to cut through a tunnel for carrying water was paralysed by the contractor.
The tunnel, which was being drilled over 50 km in a hilly terrain in the Srisailam tiger reserve, would have been completed by now if the rock blasting was done manually, Mr. Rao said.
Earlier, Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao blamed the previous governments for the cost escalation because it took two-and-a-half years to get forest clearance, one year for land acquisition and 19 months to mobilise the machinery. Thereafter, the works were stranded for 21 months due to the flooding of the tunnel and machinery following flash floods in Krishna in 2010.
Mr. Rao also said it was not only Rs. 723 crore that JP Associates demanded, but another Rs. 150 crore as advance for the release of cutters to drill the tunnel that were held up at various ports. The Speaker S. Madhusudhana Chary allowed the issue to be raised by Congress members Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and K. Jana Reddy under business rules of the Assembly. Both of them complained about meagre budgetary allocation for the project. Mr. Venkat Reddy warned that no other contractor will take up the project because the machinery has to be dismantled in the tunnel.
