Madhya Pradesh’s engineering marvel ‘Sleemanabad Tunnel’ is almost ready. Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav inspected it in Katni district. This tunnel is the dream project of CM Dr. Mohan Yadav. This tunnel will provide permanent irrigation facility to 2.45 lakh hectares of land in about 1450 villages of Jabalpur, Katni, Maihar, Satna, Rewa and Panna. In this way, the picture and fate of farming in the entire Vindhya-Mahakoushal region will change.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that the work to build the tunnel was started in three shifts of 8 hours each. Since a total of 1406 meters of tunnel boring was completed by the year 2015, there was a need to increase its speed. But from the year 2016, excavation was done from the upstream end of the tunnel with a modern machine brought from Germany. After this, many types of challenges kept increasing keeping in mind the safety standards of engineers, technicians and workers.
This tunnel is a miracle of science
There has been a long struggle for the construction of the tunnel and now success has been achieved in the year 2026. When a new government was formed in the state in the year 2023, the contractor had given up. The machines had become old and digging continued with one machine. After the completion of the tunnel, the area under irrigation will increase by about 2.5 lakh hectares in up stream and down stream.
The Chief Minister said that the Vindhya region is full of all types of resources, but at some places the challenge of water shortage comes to the fore. This tunnel will become Amritdhara for 5 districts including Katni, Rewa and Satna. Narmada River meets the Gulf of Khambhat, but it is a miracle of science that now Mother Narmada will also bring greenery in the area around Son River in Ganga Basin through this historical tunnel.
This tunnel is like a boon for the farmers and businessmen of the area. This approximately 12 kilometer long project will prove to be a case study in the field of engineering in future. Even in the event of a severe earthquake, the tunnel will remain safe for 100 years. At many places the depth of the tunnel is up to 120 feet below the ground.
Irrigation area will increase
Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that there came a time when it seemed impossible to get the tunnel ready. But when the resolution is big and the work is done with a pure heart, then success is definitely achieved. The state government continued to work with determination to complete the Narmada Tunnel despite facing repeated challenges of difficult rocks. He said that with the blessings of Lord Shri Ram, the area under irrigation in this area of Chitrakoot and 5 districts of Vindhya Valley – Rewa, Satna, Maihar, Panna and Katni will increase to a total of 2.5 lakh hectares.
There will be a solution to the problem of drinking water for the people. Electricity will also be generated in many places. This project will play a decisive role in fulfilling the resolve to increase the area under irrigation in the state. At one time the area under irrigation in the state was only 7.5 lakh hectares. He said that under our governments this area increased to 44 lakh hectares, which has increased to 65 lakh hectares in the last two and a half years.
Big gift in farmers welfare year
Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that the tunnel project is a big gift for the farmers in the year of farmers welfare. In the next three months, water will be available to farmers for irrigation in 1 lakh hectare area for Rabi crop. In this tunnel project, on one side Narmada river will flow below and on the other side Katni river will flow from above. This tunnel project is a big gift for Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand, which will fulfill the expectations of the public.
The Irrigation Department has done commendable work in challenging circumstances. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav has appealed to the farmers not to sell their land at any cost. This region will leave Punjab and Haryana behind in future. Migration from this area will stop and there will be economic prosperity. Our government is moving forward by fulfilling big resolutions in the farmers welfare year.
The team faced so many dangerous challenges
It is noteworthy that the length of this tunnel is 11.952 kilometers. It will bring Narmada water from inside the Vindhya mountain range to Son River on the basis of gravity. In this way this water will reach the bed of Son river. The construction of this tunnel is being called a miracle because technically it was impossible to penetrate the 40 meter high ridge line of Vindhya. For this, work was started about 30 meters below the ground.
The engineers working during this period were given a tough challenge by the hardness of marble-limestone, tenacity of dolomite and huge underground caves of lime dissolved in water. Not only this, up to 25 thousand liters of water was boiling per minute inside the tunnel, it was leaking and the soil there was prone to sudden collapse. The surprising thing is that the American machine used for this work was also broken. After its breakage, the state-of-the-art German Herrenconnect machine was brought in and special tame grouting technique was used. The team prepared this tunnel in such a way that despite passing through a densely populated area, directly below the National Highway and the railway track, no one suffered any damage.
When was the contract done – how much is the cost
The responsibility of this tunnel was handed over to Hyderabad’s construction agency M/s Patel-SEW (Joint Venture). Its contract was signed in 2008. At that time its initial cost was estimated at Rs 799 crore. But when work began, it faced dangerous ground challenges, special efforts to stop life-threatening water leaks, and use of the latest technology.
Because of this the cost of this tunnel increased. Till now Rs 1610.47 crore has been spent on this. Today 96.66 percent work of this entire contract has been completed. The construction of 12.135 km long open cut canal and 11.952 km long main tunnel under the project has been 100 percent completed.
Prosperity in 5 districts of Vindhya and Mahakaushal
The special thing about this tunnel is that through this 10.14 meter diameter tunnel, lakhs of cusecs of Narmada water will flow only with the help of gravity without any electricity or heavy pumps. Through Bargi Right Bank Main Canal, 2 lakh 45 thousand hectares of land of about 1450 villages of Jabalpur, Katni, Satna, Maihar, Rewa and Panna districts will be irrigated forever.
As soon as the tunnel becomes operational, 21 thousand 823 hectares of Katni district, 54 thousand 227 hectares of Maihar district, 1 lakh 4 thousand 970 hectares of Satna district, 3 thousand 532 hectares of Rewa district and 448 hectares of dry land of Panna district falling under its direct command area will get green life.
What is the government’s roadmap?
The work of all the eight groups after the tunnel is currently going on in full force. By March 2026 itself, the irrigation potential of 44 thousand 160 hectares has been brought to the ground. Farmers are benefiting from this. According to the roadmap of the state government, complete irrigation system will be ensured in 87 thousand 433 hectare area by December this year and in total 1 lakh 54 thousand 693 hectare area by December 2027.
In this way, the target of irrigation in 1.85 lakh hectares of land in 5 districts Katni, Maihar, Satna, Rewa and Panna will be achieved. The special thing is that from this tunnel, water will also be provided for the projects of 30 thousand 307 hectare area of Water Resources Department.
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