Irrigation Department Special Chief Secretary Rajat Kumar refutes NDSA conclusions in a an elaborate technical reply.
File picture of Medigadda barrage. (X)
Apparently stung by the letter that National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) chairman Sanjay Kumar Sibal has written regarding the damaged piers of the Medigadda Barrage — a part of the prestigious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) — the Telangana government on Saturday, 4 November, sent a long and elaborate reply on the issues raised by the NDSA team after its inspection.
The reply, by Irrigation Department Special Chief Secretary Rajat Kumar, said that many of the issues raised in the letter from Sibal — who is also member, Central Water Commission (CWC) — were either unsubstantiated or made without a full appreciation of the facts.
The special chief secretary said that, as the barrage was constructed strictly in accordance with CWC guidelines, the NDSA may cooperate with the state agencies in the speedy and effective restoration of this prestigious and beneficial project in a purely professional manner and “without any extraneous considerations”.
Disputing the conclusions of the NDSA team on the causes of the sinking of some piers of the Medigadda Barrage, he said that the correct causes could be determined only after a proper inspection of the foundation and other related structures, which are currently under water.
Currently, a coffer dam is under construction to divert the water and facilitate the thorough inspection of the affected portions of the barrage.
“Only once this investigative work is completed, we would be able to assess the correct reasons for the sinking of the piers in the barrage. As such, at this point of time, we are unable to agree to your conclusions,” he said.
Rajat Kumar disputed the NDSA conclusion that the primary reason for the failure of the project was the “settlement of the raft” which could be due to various reasons, including failure of the upstream “secant piles due to barrage load”.
He went on to make a detailed technical rebuttal of the NDSA’s conclusions, pointing out also that the engineering and construction of the Medigadda Barrage was similar to the Tapovan project in Uttarakhand.
As regards the need for “revision of the apron design”, he said it is already in the notice of the State Dam Safety Organisation (SDSO) and field staff.
“Detailed modeling studies have been done jointly with IIT Hyderabad. The final recommendations are herewith enclosed for your kind perusal and we would be happy to receive your specific comments on them, if any. However, due to the continuous rains in the basin and flows in the barrage for the last three years, an opportunity to implement the modification was not available till date,” he said.
Referring to the observation that NDSA provisions were not followed, he said that National Dam Safety Act has been effective from 13 December, 2021, and the regulations that were made did not provide clarity regarding the height and other details of the specified structures.
He pointed out that Telangana SDSO has sought several clarifications from NDSA in this matter. “The NDSA conducted a meeting in the virtual mode on 15 March, 2023. As a matter of fact, the NDSA has appreciated the role of the Telangana SDSO in development of the revised guidelines,” he noted.
He said that, as per these clarifications, the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla Barrages were included in the List of Specified Dams only on 12 September, 2023.
“Since the inclusion of Medigadda Barrage to the updated list was in the month of July 2023, pre-monsoon inspection could not be carried out. Other inspection reports as required under the Act are already submitted and the post-monsoon inspection will be carried out in November 2023. We assure that all the provisions of Dam Safety Act 2021 are being scrupulously complied with,” the letter said.
Rajat Kumar said that, contrary to the claim that only 11 out of the 20 documents sought by the NDSA were sent, the State Irrigation Department officials had shown all the documents to the committee during the inspection and subsequent interactive meetings.
Subsequently, another NDSA committee letter was received on 27 October, requesting furnishing of “the said 20 documents by 29 October”.
“Though we were given no working days to prepare the reports, which are considerably voluminous, we sent 17 of the documents to the committee through email on 29 October. The remaining three documents were sent on 1 November,” he contended.
He said action on restoring full operations of the barrage has already been initiated. Operations of the barrage will only be started after the contracting agency rectifies the damages.
He said that the comments pertaining to Annaram and Sundilla barrages are unsubstantiated as the expert committee did not even visit the two barrages. Both the barrages are included in the list of Specified Dams under the NDS Act and the SDSO is taking all the necessary measures to fully comply with the provisions of the Act.
The Kaleshwaram Project was approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Jal Shakti Ministry on 6 June, 2018, after thoroughly examining all the aspects like hydrology, costing, irrigation planning, environmental clearances, the letter noted.
The design of the barrage has been extensively studied by the Costing Directorate of the CWC with respect to functionality and costing.
The then chairman of the CWC, S Masood Hussain, along with CWC chief engineers visited the Kaleshwaram project on 9 April, 2018. The chairman appreciated Telangana government for speedy execution of work and said that they had not seen any irrigation project of such magnitude and described the project as an “engineering marvel”, the letter pointed out.
Further, the completion of the Kaleshwaram project has had tremendous positive impact on the economy and ecology of the state, the letter said.
Agriculture production in the state has increased by 300 percent. The average groundwater level has increased by over seven metres due to supply of surface water for irrigation and recharging of underground aquifers.
A tremendous growth is seen in fisheries and tourism sectors. The overall positive impact of Kaleshwaram Project has resulted in Telangana leading in India with highest per capita income of ₹3.17 lakh, up from about ₹1.28 lakh at the time of formation of the state, the letter pointed out.
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