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New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Climate
- New Indian Express
IMD's red alert as rain fury peaks in Telangana
HYDERABAD: Heavy rainfall battered almost all parts of the state on Saturday with Govindaraopet in Mulugu district recording 217.6 mm, the highest in Telangana in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the IMD has issued a red alert for Sunday for Bhadradri Kothagudem, Hanamkonda, Mahbubabad, Mulugu and Warangal districts and orange alert for next three days. Mangapet (136.4 mm) and (Venkatapuram 112 mm) mandals in the district also recorded intense rain, leading to overflowing lakes, rivulets and widespread disruption to road connectivity. Police set up barricades at swollen streams across Venkatapur, Tadvai, Pasara and Mulugu mandals to stop residents from attempting dangerous crossings. The overflowing Pakhal lake breached into Pakhal Vagu, cutting off the Khanapur–Mahbubabad road. Several trees were uprooted on National Highway-163, bringing traffic to a halt for hours. Adilabad among worst hit In Adilabad, Tamsi mandal received 170.6 mm, followed by Talmadugu (162.4 mm), Mavala (154.2 mm), Gudihathnoor (145.2 mm) and Adilabad urban (142 mm). Incessant rain left colonies in Adilabad town waterlogged, forcing families in Green City, Valmikinagar and other areas to take shelter on upper floors. A fisherman was washed away near the Kadam project after large-scale water release. Officials opened all 18 gates of Kadam, discharging over 2.14 lakh cusecs downstream. Six members of a family trapped in Seethagondi village were rescued by the District Disaster Response Force. Reservoirs under pressure The Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) in Nizamabad is receiving over one lakh cusecs from upstream, with levels rising to 1,083.30 feet against its full capacity of 80 tmcft. In Kamareddy, Nizamsagar is receiving 30,000 cusecs and is expected to fill in three days. In Karimnagar, Sripada Yellampalli project is receiving over 2.15 lakh cusecs, forcing officials to lift 20 gates. Mid-Manair reservoir in Rajanna-Sircilla is also filling rapidly. Inflow has caused the Godavari to swell in Jagtial. The district collector inspected the project. In Sangareddy, Pulkal mandal saw 147 mm of rain. With the Singur project receiving heavy inflows from Karnataka, 43,000 cusecs were released into the Manjeera River. Villages in Medak district, including Dhoop Singh Thanda, remain cut off. High alert in Bhadradri Kothagudem While heavy showers are expected through Saturday night, officials have been put on high alert, with control rooms in Palvancha and Bhadrachalam on standby. Farmers have been asked to avoid fields and streams, while residents were told to stay indoors after evening.
Indian Express
12-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Decode Politics: A ‘Telangana lifeline' project row that refuses to die, haunting KCR, BRS
Findings of the Justice P C Ghose Commission on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) – seen to be the 'crown jewel' of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) – have come as a blow to former Telangana chief minister and party chief K Chandrashekar Rao. The panel, which was set up by the A Revanth Reddy-led Congress government to probe alleged irregularities, negligence and lacunae in the design and construction of the Meddigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages, has held Rao – popularly known as KCR – accountable for the irregularities. What is KLIP and what does it aim to achieve? Sprawling on the Godavari over 500 km across 13 districts, with a canal network of 1,800 km, the KLIP is the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project. The Rs 80,000 crore project was inaugurated in June 2019. According to the project master plan, of the 240 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of the project's water, 169 TMC is meant for irrigation while 30 TMC is for the Hyderabad municipal area. A total of 16 TMC is meant 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 The project aims to provide drinking and irrigation water to about 45 lakh acres across 20 of the state's 31 districts, apart from Hyderabad and Secunderabad. What started the investigation? On October 21, 2023, pillar number 20 of block 7 of the Medigadda Barrage sank, leading to flooding. Four days later, a team of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) examined the pillar and held a meeting with Larsen & Toubro, the firm executing the project. On February 13 last year, the Congress government asked the NDSA to carry out a 'thorough inspection' of the design and construction of the three barrages. In March, the NDSA visited the three barrages. On April 29, the Telangana government said that the NDSA had found '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'. Around the same time, the Reddy government also constituted the Ghose panel, which was mandated with inquiring into who could be held responsible for the 'lapses'. What are the Ghose Commission's findings? While the full report of the panel is yet to be made public, the commission has held KCR 'solely responsible' for the decision to construct the three barrages. The panel also observed that 'non-availability' of water at Tummidi Hetti was not a genuine reason for shifting the barrage to Meddigadda and said that the decisions of 'individuals' led to the shift. 'It can be said that there is rank irregularity from the stage of conceptualisation of Kaleshwaram project till the issuance of administrative approvals on March 1, 2016, for the construction of the three barrages. This is not the decision of the government but of individuals'. Moreover, a retired engineers committee constituted by the BRS government had advised against the construction of a barrage at Medigadda, a recommendation that was set aside by KCR, the panel noted. 'It is abundantly clear that the government has not considered the report of the expert committee… The government under the then CM K Chandrashekar Rao and Harish Rao as the then Minister for Irrigation have not considered the report of the expert committee,' the report stated. What are the likely political implications for the BRS? Often referred to as 'Telangana's lifeline' and seen to be a brainchild of KCR himself, the NDSA's and Ghose panel's adverse reports on it has given the Congress an opportunity to corner the BRS. 'Both reports are non-political and show how the project has failed. KCR is solely responsible for the irregularities which led to the collapse of the barrage,' state Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said. The BRS, however, has questioned why the Congress government has not made the Ghose panel report public. Former state Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said, 'Is it right to make political accusations even before the full report is made public? The panel was formed just to target KCR.' BRS working president K T Rama Rao said that the project still irrigates vast tracts of land. 'It cannot be ruled out citing the sinking of just one pillar,' he said.
Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Truth will come out' — KTR after former chief minister KCR appears before Kaleshwaram commission
Former Chief Minister of Telangana and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) appeared before the PC Ghose Commission at Hyderabad's BRK Bhavan Tuesday morning. The panel is investigating alleged irregularities in the conception and implementation of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), considered to be the brainchild of KCR and the crown jewel of the BRS government which was in power in the state from 2014 to 2023. Speaking at the BRK Bhavan, which was surrounded by KCR's party workers, BRS working president and KCR's son K T Rama Rao said: 'There are about 100 components in the Kaleshwaram project and the mishap happened at two barrages of the project. The truth will come out after KCR's deposition and Telangana people will give a befitting reply to this harassment at the right time…This is merely a smear campaign by Congress and BJP'. He added that even after 100 births, 'A Revanth Reddy will not be able to measure up to KCR who could envision and implement the massive Kaleshwaram project'. The KLIP on the Godavari river in Telangana's Jayashankar Bhupalpally district across the border from Maharashtra was to supply water for irrigation, industrial, and domestic uses in northern Telangana. The vast bulk of water for the project — 195 TMC — was to come from the Medigadda Barrage. Twenty TMC was to come from the Sripada Yellampalli project, and another 25 TMC would be groundwater. While the work on Kaleshwaram project started in June 2019, on October 21, 2023, one of the pillars — No. 20 of block 7 — of the Medigadda Barrage sank, which led to flooding. The commission was set up in the aftermath of this incident. KCR was the chief minister of Telangana at the time of the incident. Before KCR, Eatela Rajender who was former finance minister and Harish Rao, former minister for irrigation had deposed before the commission. Rajender who is now a BJP MP had later said that the commission had quizzed him over the financial decisions in relation to KLIP. He said: 'I informed the commission that the Kaleshwaram project would not have materialised without the Cabinet sub-committee which recommended redesigning several components'. The documents that supported his statements will be made public soon, he said. Later, when Harish Rao appeared before the commission, he said that shifting of KLIP 'intake point from Tummidi Hatti to Medigadda' was made necessary because of 'continual opposition from Maharashtra, water shortage and ecological concerns' and not 'because of unscrupulous reasons as is alleged by the Congress government'. After the October 2023 mishap, a National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) team examined the sunken pillar 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 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'. The PC Ghosh commission is also looking into the alleged inundation of the barrages, the NSDC report and statements of prominent leaders.
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'.
