Kaleshwaram Project Controversy: Congress, BRS clash in Assembly over Ghose Commission findings

Hyderabad: The Justice P.C. Ghose Commission report on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project triggered a stormy debate in the Telangana Assembly on Sunday, with Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and former minister T. Harish Rao trading barbs over responsibility for the project’s failure.

“Design flaws sank the project”, Uttam Kumar Reddy

Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) had pointed out that the Kaleshwaram works were executed without distinguishing between dam and barrage designs, leading to disastrous results.

He noted that Telangana’s largest project, taken up at a cost of Rs 87,449 crore, had failed to deliver. The Medigadda, Sundilla, and Annaram barrages, considered vital to the scheme, had become defunct.

“Medigadda, the heart of Kaleshwaram, has collapsed. Despite spending over Rs 1 lakh crore, the project could not irrigate even one lakh acres. From 2019 to 2023, only 162 TMC of water was lifted, barely 20.2 TMC a year,” Uttam said.

He accused the previous BRS government of ignoring expert warnings and redesigning the original Pranahita–Chevella project, which would have cost Rs 38,000 crore, into Kaleshwaram at a massive cost of Rs 1.47 lakh crore.

BRS supported Dam Safety Bill

Taking aim at the opposition, Uttam said the BRS was now criticizing the NDSA despite having supported the National Dam Safety Authority Bill in Parliament.

“When Medigadda collapsed, BRS was in power. Now, the same leaders are misleading people with baseless arguments,” he remarked.

“Report is a political drama”, says Harish Rao

Countering the charges, senior BRS leader Harish Rao dismissed the Ghose Commission findings as politically motivated. “How can a 660-page report be debated in just half an hour? Give me two hours without interruption and I will respond point by point,” he demanded.

He said tabling the report on a Sunday itself exposed the government’s “political drama.” “Going to court is our constitutional right. We never opposed a debate in the House,” he clarified.

Report will not stand in Court

Harish Rao argued that the inquiry violated provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act, which mandate issuing notices under Sections 8B and 8C before naming individuals. “The Supreme Court has earlier ruled that reports without such notices are invalid. This too will not stand in court. It is nothing but waste paper,” he said.

Recalling the Shah Commission report on Emergency excesses, he said Congress leaders had then called it biased, but were now using similar reports for political gain. “This report is no different, part of a conspiracy against us,” Harish Rao alleged.