BRS, Cong spar over collapse of wall of Sunkishala project

Hyderabad, Aug 9 (PTI) The ruling Congress and opposition BRS in Telangana were engaged in a war of words on Friday over the recent collapse of the retaining wall of Sunkishala project, which is being taken up to supply drinking water to Hyderabad.

Noting that the legislative assembly was in session when the wall collapsed on August 2, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao sought to know if the Congress government was not aware of the incident then (to inform assembly) or it had attempted to conceal it.

Alleging that the state government suppressed the matter despite having information about the mishap, he wondered why it had sought to keep it secret.

State Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who visited the site, said the contractor would bear the loss and the government did not incur any loss, except that the construction works might get delayed by a couple of months.

The project has to be handed over to the government after its completion, he said.

Accusing some opposition leaders of blowing things out of proportion, he said the matter was being dealt with at the level of engineers.

The government took action after it surfaced on social media on August 6, he added.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had on Thursday blamed the previous BRS regime for its poor construction.

Pointing out that the collapsed side wall was built during the BRS government, Vikramarka alleged that the incident shows how defective the designs of its projects are. PTI SJR SJR ROH