Hyderabad: The plan to supply drinking water to Hyderabad from Sunkesula might be delayed by a year. This is because a 50-meter retaining wall of the Sunkesula project collapsed recently. The incident happened on August 2 but was only discovered on Thursday.
Officials said that a major disaster was avoided as the collapse occurred when no workers were present at the site. The pumphouse was flooded with water right after the wall fell.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) started the project in 2021 at a cost of Rs 215 crore. A departmental enquiry has been ordered into the incident. The collapse happened because of heavy inflows to Nagarjuna Sagar, destroying the tunnel gate and sidewall in just 5 minutes.
The construction work began in July 2022 and was supposed to be finished in 2023. The construction company will cover the repair costs, which are estimated to be around Rs 20 crore. The incident took place at around 7 am, and fortunately, no engineers or workers were present at that time.
So far, about 60% of the intake well works, 70% of the pumping main works, and 40% of the electro-mechanical works are completed. Additionally, 90% of the works related to three tunnels are also finished.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka criticized the previous BRS government for the poor-quality construction. He stated that the collapse of the Sunkesula project’s retaining wall shows that many projects during the BRS regime were poorly constructed. He also mentioned that an assessment cannot be made until the water levels recede, as the collapsed wall is currently submerged in flood waters.
