CM sends a strong signal on Govt’s intentions on Kaleshwaram project lapses

CM Reddy & Minister Reddy review Kaleshwaram project irregularities & discuss design issues, water availability & R&R works.

Making clear the intentions of the government to ‘expose’ the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy held a meeting with Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior officials at his residence reviewing the latest developments across the irrigation sector.

The meeting comes a day after the Chief Minister announced in the Legislative Council that an investigation headed by a sitting High Court Judge would be ordered into the matter of the sinking of piers of Medigadda barrage and the leakage in the Annaram barrage. The CM also said the government would take all MLAs and MLCs for an examination of the Medigadda and Annaram barrages.

In the meeting on Sunday, the Chief Minister is said to have asked Engineer-in-Chief (ENC) of Telangana Irrigation and Command Area Development Department C Muralidhar to get the entire details on costs involved in the Kaleshwaram project. The refusal of L&T company to take up the repair works on the Medigadda barrage unless a new agreement is signed was discussed with the Chief Minister seeking details on how it was let go so easily from its responsibility.

It’s quite intriguing that L&T which assured to repair the pillars when they sunk in October is now claiming that the agreement has lapsed and the CM wanted to understand how such an important clause of maintenance and repairs was left open to the advantage of the company rather than the government.

The lapses in the project construction that led to pillars caving in at Medigadda Barrage and the reasons behind it were also discussed. Both the Chief Minister and the Minister went deep into the design issues and the role of engineers in the project design and construction as the government spent enormous money on the three barrages.

The availability of water in the irrigation projects and how best could be used for the Yasangi crop were also explained by the officials. The Chief Minister asked them to ensure that farmers should not suffer though the projects in the Krishna basin did not receive sufficient water this year due to poor rainfall in the catchment areas in Karnataka, which was facing an unprecedented drought.

The meeting also discussed the arguments that should be presented before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal relating to inter-State river water disputes to ensure that there were no problems in future.