It appears the Congress government in Telangana has decided to dump the present Kaleshwaram project built on Godavari river and revive the Pranahita-Chevella project, on the ground that the barrages constructed as part of Kaleshwaram suffered huge damages.
A ministerial delegation led by irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy inspected the Medigadda and Annaram barrages of Kaleshwaram along with a team of media persons to study the damages caused to them due to sinking of piers in the dams.
Uttam said the preliminary investigations revealed that there were serious defects in design, construction and operations of Kaleshwaram barrages.
“The state government would initiate a judicial inquiry into the Kaleshwaram project and those responsible for the Medigadda barrage incident would have to face consequences of the law,” he said.
Engineer-in-Chief C. Muralidhar gave a 108-page PowerPoint presentation on the Kaleshwaram project, including a detailed description of damages caused to Medigadda and Annaram barrages.
"As the government, we can only say that we are alarmed, deeply concerned. The Kaleshwaram project or investment of Rs 1 lakh crore of people of Telangana is based on three barrages - Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla. For whatever reason, the pier foundation of Medigadda barrage has sunk, Annaram has developed leaks and cracks, and Sundilla has also suffered damage,” he said.
"The inquiry and investigation, repair works will happen. This will make the project non-operational or less operational for a period of time," said Uttam said after the hour-long presentation.
"As of now, the total cost of Kaleshwaram project is Rs 1.27 lakh crore, and we don't know how much more it will cost. The financial burden on Telangana due to Kaleshwaram project will be Rs 15,000 crore a year. Nearly Rs 10,000 crore bills are already pending with the irrigation department," he said.
He mentioned that the previous Congress Government had proposed the Pranahita Chevella Project to irrigate 16 lakh acres of land, with an expenditure of Rs 38,000 crore. The project could have been completed with minor sub-merging in Maharashtra.
“However, the BRS Government redesigned the project by changing the location to Kaleshwaram without a scientific approach. He said the project was shifted from Pranahita to Kaleshwaram because of political and selfish monetary consideration,” he said, adding that the Congress government would revive Pranahita project and a decision would be taken after discussing with chief minister A Revanth Reddy.
Initially proposed at Rs 80,000 crore, the cost of Kaleshwaram escalated to a whopping Rs 1.27 lakh crore. So far, Rs 95,000 crore has been spent without the approval of the Central Water Commission, and the ayacut is not even one lakh acres, he alleged.
“It highly shameful that such a significant project collapsed within three years of construction. Irrigation authorities barred access to the area and closed the barrage on both sides of Medigadda. He insisted that those responsible for the damage should be held accountable,” Uttam added.
