For generations, families in Telangana's Nalgonda region have lived with the devastating consequences of fluoride contamination in their water. On Saturday, the state government renewed a promise it says will finally end that suffering — and this time, it attached a date.

Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy declared that the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project would prove a panacea for the water-starved districts of south Telangana, insisting his government would finish the long-delayed scheme by June 2028, whatever obstacles stand in the way.

Key facts

  • Project: Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel
  • Deadline: June 2028, despite execution obstacles
  • Announced by: Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy
  • Where: Public meeting at Nakrekal marking 1,000 days of the Congress government
  • Also confirmed: ₹1,800 crore sanctioned for the Dindi project; Brahmana Vellemla to be completed

A wait measured in decades

Reddy was speaking at a public meeting organised at Nakrekal to celebrate 1,000 days in office for the Congress Government. The setting carried weight. Few issues run deeper in the erstwhile Nalgonda district than the SLBC, a project conceived decades ago that has crawled through delays while residents endured the scourge of fluorosis.

"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.

June 2028, obstacles or not

The Minister did not shy away from the hurdles that have dogged the tunnel's execution, but he framed the deadline as immovable. Completing it, he said, would fundamentally improve water availability across south Telangana — and carry special significance for Nalgonda, where safe drinking water has been a generations-long demand rather than a given. The government, he added, is simultaneously accelerating several other long-pending irrigation projects in the erstwhile district.

Other pending projects get a push

The SLBC was not the only scheme on the agenda. 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, with works already commenced. He also assured the gathering that the Brahmana Vellemla project would be completed.

For a region that has heard promises before, the government is betting that a firm date — June 2028 — and money already on the table will convince people this time is different.