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Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Kaleshwaram project ‘irregularities': KCR, nephew among Telangana ex-ministers summoned by probe panel
The Justice P C Ghose commission, investigating alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana, has sent a notice to former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, asking him to appear before it on June 5. Notices were also served to the former CM's nephew Harish Rao, a former irrigation minister; and Etela Rajender, a former finance minister in KCR's Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, who later joined the BJP. While Harish Rao was asked to appear before the commission on June 6, Rajender was summoned on June 9. The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) on the Godavari river in Telangana's Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, across the border from Maharashtra, was designed to supply water for irrigation, as well as for industrial and domestic use over a swath of northern Telangana. Work on the project began in June 2019 when the BRS was in power and KCR was chief minister. The BRS was in power in the state between 2014 and 2023. In February 2024, four months after an incident of flooding at the biggest of the project barrages, the current Congress-run state government asked the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), a statutory body set up under the National Dam Safety Act, for a thorough inspection. The Congress has said that as per the NDSA report, some irregularities have been found in the construction of some of the barrages of the project. Responding to the commission's notice, BRS leader and KCR's daughter K Kavitha wrote on X, 'The notices to KCR garu over the Kaleshwaram project are part of a calculated political conspiracy to tarnish the image of a true people's leader. Kaleshwaram was built for the welfare of farmers and future generations, not for politics. Today, this inefficient Congress government is undoing the very progress Telangana fought for. KCR garu, who has devoted his life to Telangana, transforming barren lands into fields of prosperity, is now being targeted by a visionless regime. No vindictive government can diminish his legacy. The truth will prevail, and history will remember who stood for the people and who tried to bring them down.'
Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Explained: Crisis at Kaleshwaram— why Telangana's massive irrigation project is distressed
India's national safety regulator for large dams has found 'irreparable damage' in the structure of three barrages that are part of the world's biggest multi-stage lift irrigation project. The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) on the Godavari river in Telangana's Jayashankar Bhupalpally district across the border from Maharashtra will supply water for irrigation, industrial, and domestic uses over a swath of northern Telangana. Work on KLIP began in June 2019. In February 2024, four months after an incident of flooding at the biggest of the project barrages, the state government asked the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), a statutory body set up under the National Dam Safety Act, 2021, for a thorough inspection. The government made the NDSA's findings and recommendations public this week. The mega project The Kaleshwaram project on the Godavari will be the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project. Work began on June 21, 2019, under Telangana's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. In lift irrigation projects, water does not rely on gravity to flow in canals from higher ground to lower; rather, water is lifted by means of pumps or surge pools to a main delivery chamber at the highest point in the project, from where it is distributed to beneficiary fields. The project sprawls over approximately 500 km in 13 districts, with a canal network of 1,800 km. According to the project master plan, of the 240 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water, 169 TMC, or more than 70%, is meant for irrigation. Thirty TMC is for the Hyderabad municipal area, 16 TMC for miscellaneous industrial uses, and 10 TMC is meant to provide drinking water to nearby villages. The vast bulk of this water — 195 TMC — will come from the Medigadda Barrage. Twenty TMC will come from the Sripada Yellampalli project, and another 25 TMC will be groundwater. Crisis at Medigadda On October 21, 2023, one of the pillars — No. 20 of block 7 — of the Medigadda Barrage sank, which led to flooding. An NDSA team examined the sunken pillar on October 25, and held an appraisal meeting with L&T, the company executing the project. On February 13, 2024, the Congress-led Telangana government asked the NDSA to carry out a 'thorough inspection of the design and construction of the three barrages' of the project. The NDSA visited all the three barrages for inspections and study the following month. On April 29 this year, the state government announced that the NDSA had found a 'lack of proper geo-technical investigations, design deficiencies, construction defects, failure of modelling studies, structural distress, absence of robust quality control, operation and maintenance failures, [and that] dam safety aspects [had been] ignored'. 'The committee report highlighted significant structural distress across the three barrages,' the government said. 'The Medigadda barrage', the report said, 'suffered from severe settlement and cracking of piers in Block-7 with notable tilting'. Two other barrages, Annaram and Sundilla, too 'exhibited similar patterns of seepage or piping distress'. Structural fixes needed According to the Telangana government, the NDSA has asked for 'rehabilitation of the design', and 'a comprehensive assessment of health and safety of the entire barrage'. It has sought 'immediate stabilisation measures to arrest the ongoing distress', 'comprehensive geotechnical studies and advanced geophysical assessments to establish a reliable baseline of the ground conditions and structures for future interventions'. Also, there should be 'hydraulic design aided by appropriate hydraulic model studies and structural design through appropriate mathematical modelling software'. In effect, the NDSA has recommended a full suite of actions from structural rehabilitation to strengthening of the barrages. The political stress The Kaleshwaram project, a brainchild of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was the 'crown jewel' of the BRS government that ruled Telangana for almost 10 years after the state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. However, according to Uttam Kumar Reddy, Minister for Irrigation in the government of Revanth Reddy who succeeded KCR as Chief Minister in December 2023, the Kaleshwaram project is the 'biggest man-made disaster since Independence'. Telangana, he said, is paying Rs 16,000 crore annually in debt repayment and interest for a 'structurally faulty' project. 'The barrages', said Uttam Reddy, 'were originally designed to regulate just 2 TMC of river water but over 10 TMC was stored in each, causing foundational damage and eventual collapse'.
New Indian Express
01-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Telangana irrigation officials urge NDSA chairman to declare NSP ownership
HYDERABAD: Stating that they were facing a lot of problems in taking up repairs at the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) due to the 'attitude' of the Andhra Pradesh government, the irrigation officials of Telangana on Wednesday requested the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) chairman Anil Jain to declare who the owner of the project is. The NDSA chairman, who is on a three-day tour of the sibling state, held a meeting with Telangana Irrigation officials here on Wednesday. During the meeting, the Telangana officials said that the temporary maintenance of NSP was being carried out by them while the temporary maintenance of Srisailam Dam was being done by their Andhra Pradesh counterparts. However, in November 2023, the government of AP deployed a huge police force on the right side of NSP, they added. Meanwhile, the NDSA chairman enquired about the steps being taken by Telangana to implement the National Dam Safety Act. Dam break analysis Irrigation Engineer-in-Chief G Anil Kumar informed Anil Jain that they were preparing the dam break analysis. The NDSA chairman suggested the officials prepare pre-monsoon and post-monsoon reports for every project every year. There should be a special operation and maintenance (O&M) manual for every project, he said. Responding to this, Anil Kumar wanted the NDSA chairman to decide the owner of the NSP. He said that they were facing problems in carrying out the repairs to Nagarjunasagar and the project was in danger.
