Dam Safety Authority letter on Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram Project sent in 'haste', says T'gana govt

We are surprised that conclusions have been made about the causes of the failure of the Laxmi barrage without any investigative work by the committee, state govt letter said.

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has alleged that the National Dam Safety Authority has sent a communication to the state government 'in haste' without checking details it submitted with regard to the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram Project.

Telangana Additional Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar in a letter on Saturday to Sanjay Kumar Sibal, Chairman, NDSA, said the department has studied the comments and suggestions comprehensively and noted that many of them are either 'unsubstantiated or made without a full appreciation of the facts.'

The NDSA, which had inspected the Medigadda barrage, had sent a letter to the Telangana government on Friday stating that it did not receive all the details it sought from it.

In the letter to the state government, the NDSA said it found that the Medigadda barrage has been severely compromised, rendering it useless unless fully rehabilitated.

The NDSA has concluded its investigation into the reasons behind the sinking of the piers of barrage.

The Medigadda barrage row has become a political issue in poll-bound Telangana.

"Copies of the documents are appended at Annexure-1. However, without checking the details submitted by the SDSO, a comprehensive indictment of the Kaleshwaram project was communicated to us in a hasty manner," the Telangana government's letter said, replying to the NDSA copy.

"We are surprised that conclusions have been made about the causes of the failure of the Laxmi barrage without any investigative work by the committee. As you are aware, the correct causes can be determined only after proper inspection of the foundation and other related structures which are currently under water," the state government said in the letter.

The Kaleshwaram Project was approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Jal Shakti Ministry on June 6, 2018 after thoroughly examining all the aspects like Hydrology, costing, irrigation planning, environmental clearances, etc, the state government said.

"In particular, the design of the barrage has been extensively studied by the Costing Directorate of the CWC with respect to functionality and costing," the letter addressed to the Centre said.

A six-member committee led by the Member (Disaster & Resilience) of NDSA visited the site from October 23 to 25 to conduct a thorough examination of the reasons for the sinking of the piers of the Medigadda barrage.

In a letter to the Telangana Chief Secretary, NSDA chairman Sibal, said the barrage under the present condition is 'rendered useless until fully rehabilitated'.