Hyderabad, Mar 6 (UNI) Accusing Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and several Ministers of prioritizing their commissions over workers' safety, leading to the tragic SLBC tunnel disaster,BRS working President K T Rama Rao (KTR) on Thursday alleged that despite having two reports warning about the dangers of the site, the government continued tunnel operations for its selfish gains, ultimately claiming eight lives.
In a statement, KTR condemned the negligence, stating that the state cabinet must take full responsibility for both the irreparable loss of lives and the wastage of thousands of crores of public money.
He revealed that Jaiprakash Associates Limited had surveyed in collaboration with Amberg Tech AG in 2020 to assess the tunnel site. The Tunnel Seismic Prediction (TSP) survey conducted by Amberg Tech AG in 2022 had already predicted and warned about the accident well in advance.
The report explicitly identified a fault zone between 13.88 km and 13.91 km of the tunnel, highlighting the presence of weak rock formations and severe water leakages. KTR pointed out that the recent accident occurred precisely in the fault zone mentioned in the report.
KTR also said that the state government was also in possession of another geological survey report conducted in 2022 by former Director General of the Geological Survey of India, Mandapalli Raju, and Jaiprakash Associates geologist Rituraj Deshmukh. This report indicated that the tunnel construction began without properly assessing the surface conditions, further proving the gross negligence of the government.
Despite being fully aware of these reports, Revanth Reddy’s government deliberately concealed the warnings and continued operations, endangering workers' lives, KTR alleged.
He demanded that the government release these two reports to the public and initiate an independent judicial inquiry under a sitting High Court judge.
UNI KNR BD