Telangana: Uttam Blames BRS ‘Greed’ For Kaleshwaram Crisis

He accused the previous BRS government of compromising on core engineering principles for political gains, and leaving the project and its barrages in a dangerously unstable condition that now required comprehensive rehabilitation before they could be safely operated. He said the condition of the foundation of the barrages remained suspect.

He said the government was targeting completion of rehabilitation works of the barrages of the Kaleshwaram project by July-August next year.

Speaking to media persons, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the BRS leadership was deliberately spreading misinformation by claiming that the Kannepalli pump house at Medigadda (Lakshmi Barrage) could be switched on to lift water through the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages.

Rejecting the claim outright, the minister repeatedly declared, "The pumps cannot be operated. The pumps can't be operated." He said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) had categorically prohibited the operation of the three barrages until scientific rehabilitation is completed and safety is certified.

Citing the final NDSA report, Reddy said the foundations of all three barrages remained under “serious technical suspicion”.

He said the report had identified compromised secant pile cut-off walls, seepage and piping beneath foundations, inadequate stilling basins, poor energy dissipation structures, lack of water-tightness, construction defects and quality-control failures.

He said if water is impounded without rectification, the consequences could be catastrophic, with downstream habitations, including the temple town of Bhadrachalam, potentially facing serious risk.

Extensive scientific investigations are underway to finalise the rehabilitation design, he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the rehabilitation work is being carried out by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, and global consultant MS Afry in association with IIT Bombay, under the supervision of the NDSA and the Central Water Commission.

The minister accused the BRS leadership of attempting to mislead farmers and the public by portraying a highly complex engineering problem as a simple operational issue. "This is not politics. This is engineering and public safety," he asserted.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said North Telangana would not have been facing any irrigation uncertainty today had the previous government executed the project according to sound engineering principles. "Had they constructed these barrages properly, the situation today would have been entirely different," he said.

The minister further alleged that the original Congress-designed Pranahita-Chevella project would have provided a far more sustainable solution.

"If the Pranahita-Chevella project had been implemented in its original form as conceived by the Congress government, north Telangana would have been assured of nearly 80 TMC of dependable water through gravity. It would have substantially cushioned the region even during weak monsoon years and possible El Nino conditions," he said.