Hyderabad, Sep 26 (PTI) In a veiled attack on the previous BRS regime, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the Kaleshwaram project stands as a ‘bad’ example for construction of an irrigation project.
He said the Nagarjuna Sagar, Srisailam and Sri Ram Sagar projects in the state which were started during first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s regime withstood floods and other natural calamities and continue to serve the society even today.
He was speaking at an event where he handed over appointment letters to the newly-recruited Assistant Executive Engineers (AEE) in the irrigation department.
He referred to some piers of the Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram project “sinking” last year during the BRS regime.
“Some officials on this stage may not like it. But, it should be an eye-opener for you. The Kaleshwaram projet was built with Rs one lakh crore in front of our eyes. It was built and also collapsed. Both happened. Who should be held responsible for this,” he asked.
He said payment of Rs one lakh crore was made to the contractors for the construction of the Kaleswaram projec which was described as a “man-made wonder”.
The estimates of the project rose to Rs 1.47 lakh crore, he said.
Though Rs one lakh crore was spent, irrigation facility was not provided to even one lakh acres but only to 52,000 acres under the Kaleshwaram project, he said.
Kaleshwaram project should be taken as a topic for study as to why it “collapsed” even before its completion and whether the defect lay with the public representatives, senior-level engineers or the junior engineers working on the ground, Reddy said.
The twin reservoirs of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar buit in Hyderabad by legendary engineer and Bharat Ratna recipient Mokshagundam Visvesaraya during the Nizam era are ‘man-made wonders’, he said.
Whether Visvesvaraya or the engineers who worked in Kaleshwaram should be taken as a role model, he asked.
If action is to be taken against irrigation engineers for the damage to Kaleshwaram project, the situation is such that the whole department would have to be abolished as many of them worked in the project, he said.
Such sorry state of affairs would not arise if the engineers working on the ground refuse to comply with the wrong decisions of the political executive, he said.
Reddy said the irrigation projects started during undivided Andhra Pradesh have not been completed even now.
Though about Rs two lakh crore has been spent on irrigation, projects have not been completed in the 10 years since the formation of Telangana, Reddy said.
“Projects like Kaleshwaram are there in front of our eyes on what type of mistakes should not be committed,” he said.
The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) had found in November last year that the Medigadda barrage has been severely compromised, rendering it useless unless fully rehabilitated.
The damage to the Medigadda barrage was also a major issue during last year’s assembly polls. PTI SJR SJR SA
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