HYDERABAD: The startling revelation by Telangana state’s top irrigation official C. Muralidhar that the Medigadda barrage was constructed on a raft foundation, that too on an unstable soil, raised serious doubts over the structural safety of not just the two or three pillars that sank a few of days ago but all the three barrages built as part of the Rs 1.3 lakh crore Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, the brainchild of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao who claimed it as the flagship of Telangana state’s economic turnaround.
The government built barrages across the Godavari river at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla and named them after Hindu goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvathi respectively under KLIS to facilitate lifting 160 TMC of water per annum for irrigation and drinking water needs.
The raft foundation technology was used for all the three barrages and a video shot after noticing the mishap by local irrigation officials, which is available with Deccan Chronicle, showed oozing of water and whirlpools near the pier that sunk in and irrigation experts say these are clear indicators of piping or holes in the raft foundation.
Irrigation experts, who were shocked over the engineer-in-chief’s revelation on the raft foundation, were of the view that the damage might not be limited to one section and hence all the 85 piers need to be thoroughly checked as scouring (sand below the raft foundation getting washed away) would have already taken place under the other piers as well.
They were also of the strong view that bringing the project back to use might take a few years and till then the storage of water, which is the very purpose of the KLIS, is ruled out.
“Pranahita and other tributaries joining the Godavari receive heavy inflows during Eastern monsoon in November and December and we can’t store a drop of it,” admitted an irrigation official.
“The local engineers have been suspecting similar phenomenon of scouring and dislodged sand at Annaram barrage also,” highly placed sources in Central Water Commission told Deccan Chronicle.
Sources said the team that came for inspection is being replaced by another team from National Dam Safety Authority headed by its chairman A.B. Pandya for an in-depth study. “The local officials are non-cooperative,” sources pointed out.
The worst news, according to experts, is that no repairing could be done to the damaged piers which need to be rebuilt again and this time the cost would be much higher because pile foundations have to be built before laying the raft foundation.
“Despite my repeated efforts to elicit information through RTI on whether or not pile foundation was done, the government did not respond. The way scouring took place in Medigadda indicates that pile foundations were not laid,” former MP and BJP leader Konda Vishweshwar Reddy told Deccan Chronicle.
“I was most respected by the chief minister, but as an Engineer I felt humiliated by the Kaleshwaram design and left the party,” he added. An engineer, Reddy has been producing 3D videos with simulations to take to people what he claimed was a criminal waste of public money by the government in KLIS.
