The irrigation minister also said the state government would take measures for the revival of the Pranahita-Chevella Irrigation project.
Published Dec 29, 2023 | 9:04 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 29, 2023 | 9:09 PM
The sunken piers of Kaleshwaram. (UttamINC/X)
Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday, 29 December, said the state government would take measures for the revival of the Pranahita-Chevella Irrigation project.
He also said the government would be speeding up the process for the institution of the judicial inquiry into the irregularities that occurred in the execution of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).
The minister was speaking after watching a presentation by the Irrigation Department officials on KLIS at Medigadda Barrgage in Bhupalpally district along with his other Cabinet colleagues Prabhakar, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, and Komatireddy Vekatareddy.
He said they would brief the chief minister on their findings of the sinking of the foundation of one of the piers of Medigadda barrage to a depth of about 5 ft on 21 October and request him to initiate whatever needs to be done, going forward. “Those who are guilty cannot go scot-free. They will be punished,” he said.
With fellow ministers @KomatireddyKVR, @mpponguleti, @PonnamLoksabha & @OffDSB, legislators @jeevanreddyMLC & @DrVivekGaddam, at the Kaleshwaram Project review at Medigadda Site.
ENC Muralidhar, ENC Venkateshwarlu,SP Kiran,Coll Bhavesh Mishra, L&T and Navyuga staff were present. pic.twitter.com/6CbeQB3Pph
— Uttam Kumar Reddy (@UttamINC) December 29, 2023
After the presentation on the Medigadda barrage, the ministers went around the barrage and surveyed the damage caused by the sinking of the foundation of a pier into the soil.
He alleged that there was a political dimension to the change of design of the KLIS, and vowed to fight with the Central government to secure national-project status for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS).
The minister, pointing to the lapses of those in charge of the maintenance of the Medigadda barrage, said that the water that was impounded was 16 tmcft, which was quite huge for a barrage.
This probably led to the sinking of the foundation of the pier, he said, adding that so much water was never stored in any barrage.
Uttam Kumar Reddy recalled Chief Minister Revanth Reddy ordering a judicial inquiry into the Medigadda fiasco in the Telangana Legislative Council, and said that the process would be hastened.
“It is unfortunate that the erstwhile BRS government had not even made a formal request to the Centre for national-project status for Kaleshwaram. This was the reply given by the Centre when he sought an answer to a question in Parliament on 11 July, 2019,” he said.
Recalling how the Pranahita Chevella project was conceptualised and grounded when the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the then government even addressed the problem of submergence in Maharashtra, though it was not much, by initiating talks with the government of the neighbouring state.
He said that after the advent of the BRS government in the state, the Pranahita-Chevella project was abandoned midway and in its place was brought in KLIS.
The Pranahita- Chevella project envisaged the creation of 16 lakh acres of ayacuts for ₹38,000 crore.
The BRS government spent ₹95,000 crore on KLIS, though the CWC cleared an expenditure of ₹80,000 crore only on KLIS, but could not irrigate more than 1 lakh acres.
In fact, the total estimated cost of KLIS was ₹1.27 lakh crore. The funds needed to be serviced at the rate of ₹30,000 crore per year.
Bills for ₹10,000 crore were still pending with the government for clearance, said Uttam Kumar Reddy, pointing out that at the end of the day, the remaining two projects — Annaram and Sundilla — also suffered damage.
Reacting to the presentation, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that the previous government showed more interest in the finalisation of tenders than focusing on quality in respect of Medigadda.
Arguing for a thorough inquiry into the construction of the entire KLIS, he said that after lifting 50 tmcft of water at Medigadda, only 41 tmcft was lifted at the third barrage.
“What happened to the remaining 9 tmcft water? Did the government let the water, which it lifted at a huge cost, back into the Godavari river?” he asked.
The government, which cannot properly pump water, showed unusual haste in awarding works on a nomination basis for augmentation of the project to allow the lifting of an additional third tmcft of water, he said.
IT Minister D Sridhar Babu said the government was trying to ascertain what went wrong with the Medigadda, Sundilla, and Annaram barrages. Leakage of water from the barrage was detected in Sundilla and Aannaram.
“We are not trying to be vindictive against anyone. What all we want to know is how come a project constructed at a huge cost had become useless in just three years,” he said.
R&B Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy said the state would have got water by gravity had Pranahita Chevella been constructed at Thummidihat.
The quality of the pumps used to lift water was poor, he said, adding that the engineers should have apprised the government about what was happening.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the people should know how much water KLIS has delivered, how much ayacut has been created, and how much money was spent on the power bills.
There was a need for an in-depth inquiry into the construction of the entire project, he said.
