The Union minister visited the barrage along with OBC Morcha president Dr K Laxman and Eatala Rajender on Saturday.
Published Nov 04, 2023 | 5:59 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 04, 2023 | 6:03 PM
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and other BJP leaders visiting the damaged Medigadda Barrage on Saturday. (X)
BJP Telangana state president G Kishan Reddy threw a challenge at the ruling BRS on Saturday, 4 November, saying the Union government is willing to order a CBI probe into the damage caused to the Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage if the state government so demands.
The damage to the Medigadda Barrage has become a hot topic for Opposition political parties to take on BRS in the poll-bound state, where elections are scheduled for 30 November.
The piers of the Medigadda Barrage, which is part of the BRS flagship Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), sank on 21 October, evoking adverse reactions from the Congress and the BJP.
The BRS has been trying to play down the issue, contending that the barrage was in fine fettle and cast aspersions on the report of the high-power technical team which studied the structural damage.
“Let (Telangana Chief Minister K) Chandrashekar Rao write to the Centre. It will immediately order a CBI probe,” Reddy, also the Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, said while interacting with reporters after visiting the barrage in the morning.
The BJP leader visited the barrage a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress state president A Revanth Reddy inspected the structure.
Reddy said that the people of Telangana had a right to know what caused the piers to sink. He called for a thorough probe into the issue.
The BJP team, which also comprised OBC Morcha president Dr K Laxman and MLA Eatala Rajender, undertook the visit in the wake of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Sibal saying that the barrage has to be reconstructed for it to be functional.
“Filling the reservoir in the present condition would worsen the barrage’s health and should not be resorted to. That is, the barrage under the present condition cannot be functional until rehabilitation,” Sibal said in his report to the state irrigation special chief secretary.
After visiting the barrage, Reddy said: “They (the BRS government) are trying to hide acts and shift blame to others. If the chief minister writes to the Centre, a CBI inquiry could be ordered in just 15 minutes.”
He suspected KCR’s intervention might have resulted in the shoddy construction of the reservoir.
“KCR and his family had intervened from the project design stage to its execution, including the selection of the contractor. The damage to the piers has cast a shadow on the fitness of the entire project,” he said, adding that it was clear that the barrage had been severely compromised, rendering it useless.
Meanwhile, the authorities have set up barricades on the barrage to prevent anyone from reaching the seventh block of the barrage where Pier No 20 had sunk. The authorities had already closed the barrage to vehicular traffic on 21 October.
Though the officials were letting water downstream by lifting 61 gates, inflows into the reservoir were continuing at the rate of 26,000 cusecs. The officials were engaged in the construction of a coffer dam to enable them to repair the damaged piers.
