Kaleshwaram Project irregularities: Telangana sets up panel to study Ghose Commission report, prepare cabinet note

Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Friday set up a high-powered committee to scrutinise the PC Ghose Commission’s nearly 700-page report on alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

The committee will prepare a concise summary for the state Cabinet.

The panel is slated to present its findings to the Cabinet on August 4, after which decisions on criminal and departmental action will be taken.

Panel of Secretaries to sift through findings

The review committee includes the Secretaries of the Irrigation Department, Law Department, and the General Administration Department (GAD). Its mandate is to examine the detailed observations, identifications of lapses, and recommendations made by the Commission, and to distill them into an actionable summary for the Cabinet’s deliberation.

Report formally handed over to CM.

On Friday, Chief Secretary A. Ramakrishna Rao and senior officials handed over the Ghose Commission report to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.

The Chief Minister held preliminary consultations with his Cabinet colleagues to chart the next course of action based on the report’s contents.

Scope of inquiry covered technical to policy lapses.

The one-man Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, was constituted on March 14, 2024, to probe alleged irregularities in the planning, design, construction, quality control, operation, and maintenance of the Medigadda, Annara, and Sundilla barrages under the Kaleshwaram project.

Over the past 15 months, it examined more than 115 witnesses, including serving and retired engineers and officials associated with the project. The judicial probe was initiated in the aftermath of the partial collapse of some piers of the Medigadda Barrage in October 2023.

Following the change of government in December 2023, the new regime first ordered a vigilance inquiry and sought an assessment from the National Dam Safety Authority before escalating it into a judicial commission.

Key political figures summoned

In the latter stages of the probe, the Commission summoned former Chief Minister and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), along with ex-ministers T Harish Rao and Eatala Rajender.

KCR, who helmed the state from 2014 to 2023 and oversaw major decisions on the project’s redesign and financing, appeared before the panel on June 11 and was reportedly questioned on policy and structural changes made during his tenure.

BRS pushes back, alleges vendetta

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has rejected the corruption allegations levelled in connection with the Kaleshwaram project.

The party has characterised the summons to its leadership, particularly KCR, as part of a politically motivated vendetta by the ruling Congress government, asserting that the project was executed in the public interest.

Next Steps: Cabinet to decide on action

The Cabinet meeting scheduled for August 4 is expected to be pivotal. Based on the committee’s summary and the Commission’s findings, the government is likely to decide on initiating criminal proceedings against those found culpable.

Simultaneously, departmental proceedings against officials flagged in the report are also under active consideration.