Telangana irrigation minister and Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy at a press convention. Pic/News18
State minister Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned that the Telangana authorities goes to cooperate with central authorities and take a name on the way forward for the sinking pillars of the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram Raise Irrigation Undertaking based mostly on their report. The minister added that the administration is trying into the chances of authorized motion and a judicial probe
The sinking pillars of the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram Raise Irrigation Undertaking in Telangana have grow to be the topic of infinite mudslinging between the ruling Congress and the principal opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which was in energy final 12 months. The Bharatiya Janata Social gathering-led central authorities too waded into the controversy on Thursday after Sriram Vedire, adviser to the Minister of Jal Shakti (MoJS), categorically blamed the Okay Chandrashekar Rao-led earlier BRS authorities for the defective building of the challenge.
As particulars in regards to the shoddy building proceed to emerge, the larger concern stays: what’s to be executed in regards to the broken pillars? If they will be repaired, who will foot the price?
On Friday, BRS working president Okay Taraka Rama Rao led a delegation of social gathering members and media individuals to the Medigadda barrage. Earlier than leaving, he advised the media that the Congress was politicising the difficulty. He requested the state to take up the repairs quickly and supply water to farmers. He added that farmers are going to bear the brunt of this extended political slugfest.
On the identical day, state irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned that it was shameless of the BRS to ask for repairs to be taken up. “KCR has left a legacy of a mortgage burden of hundreds of crores. After our vigilance, CAG and NDSA experiences identified obtrusive negligence within the building of the challenge. How are they asking a brand new authorities to take up the repairs?” he mentioned.
The Kaleshwaram challenge was constructed by Larsen & Toubro beneath the BRS authorities. Because the blame recreation goes on, it’s unclear which company goes to bear the price of the repairs. Uttam Kumar Reddy has mentioned that his authorities has placed on maintain Rs 400 crore in cost to L&T until extra particulars in regards to the damages emerge. The earlier BRS authorities had taken crores of loans from central establishments to construct the challenge.
What’s the best way ahead?
On the press convention, Sriram Vedire launched a 17-page doc itemizing how the BRS authorities derailed KLIP. The pink social gathering dedicated engineering blunders, didn’t submit experiences, and ignored solutions by the Central Water Fee (CWC), he alleged. One of many details within the doc was that it was KCR’s thought to shift the barrage from the unique location of Tummadihatti to Medigadda.
The report says: “In 2015, BRS authorities lied in saying that CWC has talked about that 165 TMC of water is just not obtainable at Tummidihetti and solely 67 TMC is obtainable at this location. In truth, CWC by no means mentioned that. CWC all the time talked about that 165 TMC is obtainable at this location. BRS authorities wrongly talked about that solely 67 TMC is obtainable at Tummidihetti location solely to indicate it as a cause to maneuver to Medigadda location.”
Probe committee arrange
The MoJS has permitted a committee to be led by former chairman of CWC, J Chandrashekhar Iyer, to take up a probe into the Medigadda barrage. The report is predicted inside a month. Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned that the Telangana authorities goes to cooperate with central authorities and take a name on the way forward for the sinking pillars based mostly on the report. The minister added that the administration is trying into the chances of authorized motion and a judicial probe.
“We had requested the Chief Justice of Telangana to spare a sitting choose for a judicial probe. He, nonetheless, mentioned that no such choose is obtainable and we’re nonetheless on the lookout for choices. We’ll ship a vigilance report for authorized vetting. We’ve additionally requested the police to conduct a probe in case there was any deliberate sabotage,” added the minister.
The challenge has put the federal government beneath an annual burden of Rs 25,000 crore, he mentioned. “Rs 9,000 crore has already been spent on three barrages which have proven indicators of injury. We’ll take motion based mostly on the report by the Centre. It’s a constitutional authority and their solutions are higher than the foolish ones being put ahead by KTR,” mentioned Uttam Kumar Reddy.
