Latest news with #PCGhoseCommissionofInquiry
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
KCR held ‘directly accountable' for Kaleshwaram irregularities, PC Ghose Commission indicts ex-CM, ministers
HYDERABAD: If sources are to be believed, the report submitted by the PC Ghose Commission of Inquiry holds BRS president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao 'directly and vicariously accountable' for irregularities in the planning, execution, completion, and operation and maintenance (O&M) of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS). According to highly placed sources, the Commission reportedly found that the project was taken up without Cabinet approval and fixed responsibility on the then irrigation minister T Harish Rao and then finance minister Eatala Rajender. It also recommended the severest legal action against six irrigation engineers for deliberately misleading the Commission and for giving false depositions. The report noted that the then engineer-in-chief, C Muralidhar Rao, recently caught by the ACB, misrepresented facts to the Central Water Commission. One of the most serious findings relates to KCR's directive to continuously impound water in the barrages to full capacity for lifting through pump houses, despite barrages being designed as low-head diversion structures, not storage systems. This, the Commission stated, was a 'major cause for distress', linking it directly to the sinking of piers at the Medigadda barrage. The report flagged massive cost escalations, flawed designs and procedural lapses throughout the project's construction. The Commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge PC Ghose, described KLIS as a scheme marked by 'rampant and brazen procedural and financial irregularities'.
NDTV
11-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Tech Calls On Kaleshwaram Project Taken By Engineers, KCR told Panel: Sources
Former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao testified before the PC Ghose Commission, stating he approved the Kaleshwaram irrigation project but left technical decisions to engineers. He defended the project's decisions and described its financial transparency. New Delhi: The self-declared architect of the world's biggest lift irrigation project Kaleshwaram, former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has told the PC Ghose Commission of Inquiry that while he envisioned the project and gave overall approval, all technical decisions were taken by engineers, sources said. KCR, as he is popularly known, is said to have told the one-man commission of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, that he would not like to be examined in public. So only Justice PC Ghose and Commission secretary Muralidhar were present when he answered questions put to him by the Commission. Even as thousands of Bharat Rashtra Samithi workers and leaders stood outside to express support, KCR's convoy drove in at 11 am and he left at 1 pm. Nine leaders were given permission to accompany him inside. They included former irrigation minister Harish Rao, who faced questioning by the Commission on June 9, and had brief KCR, over the last two days. Sources said 18 questions were posed to KCR and the entire process is said to have taken 50 minutes. He was reportedly asked who took the decision to build the project, to which the former Chief Minister reportedly said the political leadership did. He in fact said all decisions were taken by the cabinet and minutes of meetings were available for the same. KCR was asked about who took the decision for redesigning and re-engineering of the barrages, also about changing the location, how much water should be stored and for how long, to all of which KCR is said to have answered that based on expert and technical reports, the engineers had taken the decisions. He is said to have mentioned that as many as 4,000 engineers had worked to make the project a reality. The former Chief Minister reportedly mentioned recommendations of a PSU called WAPCOS, the Central Water Commission reports on availability of water at different points, repeated denial of permission by Maharashtra for locating the first barrage at Tummidi Hatti, forcing the shift to Medigadda and so on. The former Chief Minister is also reported to have been asked about why a corporation was set up. He said it was done to raise financial resources and bring transparency. KCR reportedly shared documents, including a booklet on "Kaleshwaram: the Lifeline of Telangana" -- a copy of GO45 on allocation of responsibilities and an operations and maintenance manual. The BRS has maintained that the inquiry ordered into the planning, design, construction, quality control, execution, operations and management of Kaleshwaram, is politically motivated. "There is no death, no breakdown. Only two of 300 pillars developed cracks and the government is reacting as though a major disaster happened in Telangana as though the entire project collapsed, whereas both the Congress and the NDSA have turned a blind eye to real disasters elsewhere," BRS working president KT Rama Rao told NDTV. BRS MLC and KCR's daughter Kavitha had also said she would be at BRK Bhavan as support to KCR as he deposed before the commission. Though Ms Kavitha was seen in visuals at KCR's farmhouse this morning as he was leaving to appear before the Commission, she instead went to visit BRS leader Palle Rajeshwar who had an accidental fall and was admitted to hospital this morning.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
BRS govt followed engineers' advice on KLIS: Harish to Ghose panel
1 2 Hyderabad: Former irrigation minister T Harish Rao has staunchly defended the BRS govt's decisions on Kaleshwaram project, asserting they were backed by technical recommendations, cabinet approvals, and driven by ground realities, including inter-state constraints. Deposing before the Justice (retired) PC Ghose Commission of Inquiry on Monday, Harish Rao, who held the irrigation portfolio between 2014 and 2018, clarified that the former BRS govt had shifted the Kaleshwaram project location from Tummidihatti to Medigadda based on expert committee advice, water availability, and political hurdles with neighbouring Maharashtra. "The Central Water Commission itself said the proposed water availability at Tummidihatti was not feasible. Of the 160 tmcft expected, 63 tmcft had already been allocated to upstream states. The CWC even wrote to the state to reconsider the proposal," Harish Rao said during the 40-minute hearing, conducted in English and Hindi. He supported his statements with a line diagram of the project. He added that an expert committee of retired engineers had also flagged concerns over Tummidihatti's viability. "The idea was to irrigate 16 lakh acres, but even the engineering committee recommended creating artificial reservoirs instead," he said. The ex-minister also highlighted Maharashtra's strong opposition to the barrage at 152 metres elevation due to submergence and local resistance. "Despite several rounds of meetings with Maharashtra ministers and even their then CM Devendra Fadnavis, who candidly remarked that even when the Congress was in power, both in state and at the Centre, they could not push this project through for seven years. How could we have succeeded where they failed, given the local anger," Harish Rao said. He maintained the eventual decision to shift to Medigadda and reconfigure Annaram and Sundilla barrages was guided by a Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) survey and recommendations from both serving and retired engineers. "Even major projects like Nagarjuna Sagar, SRSP, and the recent Kanthanpally saw location changes after field surveys — so such revisions were not unprecedented," he said. On the barrage failures, Harish Rao distanced the political executive from operational decisions. "Filling up of barrages was entirely a decision of field-level engineers and the irrigation department. The govt had no role in that," he claimed. When asked about the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Corporation, Harish Rao confirmed that it was created as a special purpose vehicle to raise loans. "The initial plan was to generate revenue through water tariffs from industries, but Covid-19 disrupted that. The state then stepped in with budgetary support, and the govt never defaulted," he said. Harish Rao also pointed out that all decisions regarding Kaleshwaram—barrage locations, project structure, and KLIC formation—had cabinet backing. "Some decisions, especially on technical grounds, were made on the advice of engineers. Govts cannot override technical feasibility," he reiterated. His deposition comes at a time when the BRS is under political fire following structural failures in the prestigious multi-purpose Kaleshwaram project, which was often showcased by the party as a symbol of Telangana's irrigation resurgence.
