A year of inquiries into irregularities for Energy, Irrigation sectors in Telangana

Telangana government orders judicial inquiries into energy and irrigation sector irregularities, with reports expected to be tabled in Assembly.

HYDERABAD

If it was anything that has hit headlines more in the media in Telangana during the last one year, ‘Praja Palana of the Congress Government since December 7 last year, it’s the developments in the Energy and Irrigation sectors. The two sectors have been in the limelight not for completion of any pending project or taking up a new one, but for the two judicial inquiries ordered by the State government to probe the alleged irregularities in the execution of projects taken up by the previous government.

The judicial inquiries were headed by Justice L. Narasimha Reddy first and later by Justice M.B. Lokur into the execution of Bhadradri and Yadadri thermal power projects and power purchase agreement with the Chhattisgarh government and by Justice P.C. Ghose into the damage suffered by Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram project. Besides, the State government had also instituted inquiries into the subjects by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department.

Justice Narasimha Reddy stepped down from the inquiry following the Supreme Court directions to the State Government to change the Chairman of the Commission after former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao moved the Apex Court objecting to the Chairman’s announcement of the findings by holding a press conference. Justice Lokur, who replaced Justice Reddy continued the probe where it was left by the latter and submitted the report in the last week of October. The Commission appointed in March was given extension twice till October-end.

The Lokur CoI is understood to have faulted the previous Bharat Rasthra Samithi (BRS) government and the decision makers in its report both on the execution of the two power projects and the power purchase agreement. Official sources stated that the State government is planning to table the report in the Assembly before proceeding on it.

On the other hand, the inquiry by the Justice Ghose Commission is in the final stages with the government already extending its term thrice up to December 31. The Commission has already grilled those in the ranks from assistant executive engineer to Engineer-in-Chief, nearly 100 of them, associated with the planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance and also collected information from all those who were willing to be part of the inquiry.

Before winding up the inquiry, the Commission is learnt to be planning to summon some senior engineers one more time and also the bureaucrats and political leadership who were in the position of decision making at the time of execution of the barrages of the Kaleshwaram project. The V&E inquiry into the Medigadda fiasco has already been completed and has already reached the government. However, the government is likely to proceed further on it once it gets the Ghose Commission report.