Kaleshwaram project: Vigilance panel recommends criminal proceedings against 17 govt officials, L&T-PES

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Vigilance Commission has recommended that the government initiate criminal proceedings against 17 government officials and the executing agency, L&T-PES (a joint venture), in connection with the collapse of Block No. 7 of the Medigadda barrage, part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

The recommendations follow a detailed Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) report dated March 5, 2025, submitted by the Director General, V&E, which flagged serious lapses in design, supervision, quality control, and execution.

Major disciplinary action ordered

The Commission has directed the Irrigation and Command Area Development (I&CAD) department to initiate major disciplinary proceedings against 33 serving officials, including engineers and Finance department personnel. These officials were found responsible for procedural failures and supervisory negligence that contributed to the barrage’s structural failure.

Among those named are Bhupathi Raju Nagendra Rao, Todupunoori Srinivas, V. Phanibhushan Sharma, Mohd. Ajmal Khan, Kotte Sudhakar Reddy, Sudagoni Sathyanarayana, B. Venkata Ramana Reddy, Sardar Omkar Singh, Ch. Thirupathi Rao, Banothu Nanda, Ajmeera Suresh Kumar, P. Shravan Kumar, K. S. S. Chandra Sekhar, H. Baswaraj, Thoutam Hemalatha, Ankilla Ravikanth, R. Vijay, G. Gangadhar, G. Saicharan, M. Prasad, Merugu Raju, B. Ganesh, Md. Ismail Sajid, P. A. Venkata Krishna, K. Devender Reddy, M. Raghu Ram, B. Kiran Kumar, A. Krishna Mohan, G. Krishna Reddy, E. Sukumar, P. Shravan Kumar, L. Bheema Raju, Vali Shaik and Boge Srinivas who are holding key roles in project implementation.

Retired officials also under scanner

The Commission also advised that penalty proceedings be initiated against seven retired senior officials under the Telangana Civil Services (Conduct and Appeal) Rules. These include: Cheeti Muralidhar, Engineer-in-Chief (General), I&CAD, N. Venkateshwarlu, Engineer-in-Chief, Kaleshwaram Project, Gajjela Hari Hara Chary, Deputy Chief Engineer, B. Venkateshwarlu, Chief Engineer, Quality Control & Inspection Chatla Gangadhar, V. Ajaya Kumar, and A. Narender Reddy.

Criminal charges proposed against 17 officers and L&T-PES

Criminal proceedings were recommended against 17 of the 33 officials, as well as L&T-PES, the contractor responsible for executing the barrage works. The report attributed the collapse to faulty execution of the secant pile foundation and violation of key terms of the supplemental agreement.

The Commission stated that L&T-PES is liable for the full cost of replacing Block No. 7 and accused the agency of misleading claims of project completion, despite glaring structural deficiencies and failure to comply with safety standards.

Accountability of top bureaucracy

The report did not spare senior bureaucrats. It called for accountability from Principal Secretaries of I&CAD and Finance Departments, who were involved in approving design deviations and financial clearances during the project’s redesign and execution between April 2015 and October 2023.

Commission recommends structural reforms

• To prevent such incidents in future projects, the Vigilance Commission has issued several recommendations:
• Strict adherence to contract norms and procedures
• Mandatory joint inspections by multiple departments
• Third-party model studies for redesign approvals
• Detailed tracking of contractor machinery and manpower deployment
• Stronger insurance enforcement aligned with updated project estimates

The collapse of the Medigadda barrage has not only raised questions about engineering standards and project oversight but has also triggered a major political controversy, given the scale of the Kaleshwaram project and the financial implications of the failure.