# Worker dies in Veligonda tunnel accident, minister orders safety 2026-08-17T11:38:46+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet (2 source reports) A 20-year-old worker, Montilal Singh from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, died after hitting his head on a hydraulic machine inside Tunnel-2 of the Veligonda Project in Markapuram district early on August 17, 2026. The accident occurred around 3 a.m. about 9 km inside the tunnel during the third shift. He was taken to the government hospital in Dornala and died at 7 a.m. while receiving treatment. Minister for Water Resources Nimmala Ramanaidu spoke to the project's Chief Engineer and representatives of contractor Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL). He expressed shock and directed officials to provide full assistance to the family. Since Montilal was unmarried, his parents will receive insurance and other benefits. The minister instructed that worker safety be given top priority in tunnel work. Project Superintending Engineer Abutalem said this is the third accident since the project began in 2006. He stated the contractor has taken utmost care of worker safety over the past two decades. The Hindu reports that project officials did not respond to calls or messages after the incident. ## Coverage - thehindu.com - thehindu.com (2) This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-09-27T06:18:04+00:00. Tags: Markapuram, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd, Nimmala Ramanaidu, Veligonda project Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/worker-dies-in-accident-at-veligonda-project-tunnel-in-andhra/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/worker-dies-in-accident-at-veligonda-project-tunnel-in-andhra/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/