The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has summoned engineering, quality control and maintenance officials of the Kaleshwaram project for questioning on Saturday, March 9.
The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has formed a six-member committee to inspect and study the design and construction of Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), on the request of the Telangana government.
The committee has summoned all stakeholders involved in the investigation, hydrology, model studies, designs, construction, quality control and operation and maintenance of the barrages since the inception of the project.
The NDSA team visited the Kaleshwaram project on March 6 and inspected the damaged barrages.
The committee, led by J. Chandrashekar Iyer, former Chairman of the Central Water Commission, is investigating the reasons behind the sinking of the Medigadda barrage pillars and observed the distress in the two upstream barrages, Annaram and Sundilla.
The committee, which has been given a deadline of four months to submit its report to the NDSA, includes U.C. Vidyarthi, a scientist from the Central Soil and Materials Research Station, Pune; R. Patil, a scientist from the Central Water and Power Research Station; Shiv Kumar Sharma from the CWC; Rahul Kumar Singh; and Amitabh Meena, both Directors of NDSA, as official members.
CAG report on Kaleshwaram
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that was tabled in the state Assembly this month stated that the multi-purpose Lift Irrigation Project on the Godavari River in Telangana’s Kaleshwaram of the previous BRS in Telangana is “economically unviable.”
The cost of the Kaleshwaram project is now likely to exceed Rs 1.4 lakh crore (Rs 1,47,427.41 crore) as against the cost of Rs 81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission (CWC), the CAG report stated.
The absence of a comprehensive plan duly spelling out the sources of funds for a project of this scale will have a long-term impact on the finances of the State, and is an indication of improper planning, the CAG report stated.
