N. Uttam Kumar Reddy called the NDSA report on the Kaleshwaram project a damning indictment of the previous BRS government's failures in design, construction, and oversight
Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report on the Kaleshwaram project was a direct indictment of the slew of failures of the previous BRS government in all aspects of the project. He said the report exposed many serious flaws in design, construction, and maintenance of the project’s barrages at Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla.
On the BRS’ charge that the report was politically motivated, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the NDSA was a central agency comprising the country’s top dam safety experts. “The NDSA was constituted when the BRS was in power. The BRS should be ashamed that their project was indicted by an institution formed during their rule,” he said while answering questions on the NDSA report on the sidelines of Bharat Summit here on Friday.
He further said the “the NDSA report clearly stated there were design, construction, operation and maintenance faults. Soil testing was not done properly, and no proper geophysical investigations were conducted.” The state government “will thoroughly study the NDSA findings and the Cabinet will discuss it. Those who constructed this project and those who enabled its flaws have committed a grave betrayal of Telangana’s farmers. We will ensure they are held accountable. This betrayal will not go unpunished,” he said.
Accusing the BRS government of “mortgaging Telangana’s future by borrowing over `1 lakh crore at high interest rates to build a project that failed under its own watch,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “the BRS claimed it was creating wonders with Kaleshwaram. The BRS built it, it collapsed during its regime. The BRS should apologise to the farmers of Telangana.”
He said the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages were barely functional, even though the BRS government projected the project as a monumental success. “Despite these structures not being in use, Telangana achieved record paddy production during the Vanakalam season. That was due to the resilience of our farmers, not because of the failed structures built by the BRS government,” he said.
The NDSA report, he said, found design and construction defects, structural distress, and downstream damages which made Block-7 of the Medigadda barrage unserviceable. Similar issues have been noted in the rest of the barrage.
