Hyderabad: Weeks ahead of the Telangana assembly polls, a scathing report by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) on the sinking of the Medigadda Barrage piers has landed the state’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in hot water.
The central panel cited planning, design, quality control and operation-maintenance faults as factors that resulted in the 21 October sinking of the piers, which were part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) over the Godavari. The K. Chandrashekar Rao-led government publicises KLIP — touted as the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project — as their flagship achievement, and often criticises the Narendra Modi-led Centre for not according it national project status.
The report, sent to the Telangana government Wednesday and made public Friday, spurred opposition parties Congress and BJP to launch a renewed attack on the BRS at a time when the ruling side is appealing to voters for a third term in power. Congress and BJP have been projecting the Kaleshwaram project as the epitome of Chief Minister KCR’s “corruption”, alleging arbitrary design changes, shoddy work and misappropriation to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore.
“Exposed! K Chandrashekar Rao led Telangana government’s corruption stands hopelessly exposed. It is appalling to know that the greed and corruption of the BRS govt has led to risking lives of lakhs of people & loss of crores of rupees of taxpayers’ money,” Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat posted on X Friday.
On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in south Telangana, visited the barrage along with state Congress chief Revanth Reddy. “I visited the barrage, which is a part of the corruption-ridden Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme in Telangana. Cracks have developed in multiple pillars because of shoddy construction with reports indicating that the pillars are sinking,” Gandhi posted on X.
Kaleshwaram Project = KCR Family ATM
I visited the Medigadda barrage, which is a part of the corruption-ridden Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme in Telangana.
Cracks have developed in multiple pillars because of shoddy construction with reports indicating that the pillars are… pic.twitter.com/BWe8Td9mCq
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 2, 2023
State polls scheduled on 30 November, Kaleshwaram became the Opposition’s focus again as six pillars in three blocks of the Medigadda (Laxmi) barrage sank on 21 October. Visuals of the depression in the road over the barrage went viral on social media and news channels and BJP, Congress sharpened their attack on the BRS.
Following Union Minister and Telangana BJP chief Kishan Reddy’s letter to Shekhawat seeking a probe, an NDSA team inspected Medigadda and held review meetings with state irrigation officials from 23 to 25 October.
The inspection report sent by NDSA chairman (additional charge) Sanjay Sibal to Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation & CAD department, Telangana, Rajat Kumar, was shared by Reddy and Sanjay on social media platform X Friday.
అవినీతి
ప్రాజెక్టుల వైఫల్యం
లీకేజీలు
ఇవన్నీ కేసీఆర్ మార్కు పాలనలో సర్వసాధారణం అయిపోయాయి.
లీకేజీ, పిల్లర్లు కుంగిపోయిన నేపథ్యంలో మేడిగడ్డ బ్యారేజీని పరిశీలించిన తర్వాత కేంద్ర డ్యామ్ సేఫ్టీ అథారిటీ అధికారులు.. కాళేశ్వరం ప్రాజెక్టులో భాగమై అన్నారం, సుందిళ్ల.. ప్రాజెక్టుల్లోనూ… pic.twitter.com/SAPFRMK5ez
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) November 3, 2023
On Saturday, Kishan Reddy posted a video on X with a message that he was visiting the Medigadda barrage.
On my way to the Medigadda barrage in Bhupalpally Dist.
మేడిగడ్డ బ్యారేజీ కుంగిపోయిన నేపథ్యంలో ఇవాళ బీజేపీ నాయకులు లక్ష్మణ్ గారు, ఈటెల రాజేందర్ గారు, రఘునందన్ గారితో కలిసి కాళేశ్వరం ప్రాజెక్ట్ వద్దకు చేరుకున్నాను. pic.twitter.com/bi229uReLC
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) November 4, 2023
Corruption & Negligence in Kaleshwaram project stands exposed!
Medigadda barrage piers had sunk due to a combination of issues involving planning, design, quality control and Operation and maintenance as per National Dam Safety Authority.
The shoddy work exposes the… pic.twitter.com/unPbzmfepI
— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (@bandisanjay_bjp) November 3, 2023
Telangana irrigation officials however, while speaking to reporters, claimed that the Medigadda fault did not arise from a redesigning of the KLIP precursor — the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government-conceived Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi in 2008-2009 — but from sand erosion.
About the project
Inaugurated in June 2019 by then Telangana governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and KCR along with Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and then Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis present as special guests, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project has been mired in controversies, allegations of inadequacies and corruption.
The objective of the project was to provide 169 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water for irrigation, 30 TMC for Hyderabad’s drinking water needs, 16 TMC for industrial uses.
In July 2022, flood waters submerged the massive Bahubali motors of the project at the Kannepalli pump house as excess water flowed into the barrages, causing heavy losses to the state government.
Following the Medigadda incident, the Telangana police had cordoned off the barrage area, about 250 km northeast of Hyderabad.
What NDSA report says
According to the NDSA report: “The distress condition developed in one block of Medigadda barrage is adversely affecting the functionality of the barrage, which under the present condition is rendered useless until fully rehabilitated.”
The damaged block may have to be structurally restored to make it functional, it added, warning that “considering the commonalities, the likelihood of failure of other blocks resulting in a similar mode exists. This would warrant rehabilitating the whole barrage. Filling the reservoir in the present condition would worsen the barrage’s health and should not be resorted to”.
Further complicating matters for the BRS, wide seepages were reportedly noticed at the Sundilla (Parvati) and Annaram (Saraswati) barrages, also part of KLIP, Wednesday.
The NDSA report too asks the Telangana government to examine these barrages. “The two barrages constructed upstream of Medigadda under the Kaleshwaram Project, Annaram and Sundilla barrages, have similar designs and construction methodologies, making them prone to similar failure modes. Signs of boiling already exist downstream of Annaram Barrage, a precursor to failure. These barrages also should be examined urgently for signs of piping/ distress,” it said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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