Sinking barrages of Kaleshwaram Project: Six-member NDSA team to visit project site on Mar 6

Hyderabad: A six-member expert committee of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) is set to inspect the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) on March 6. NDSA works under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The team will inspect the three damaged barrages including Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla. The committee is going to study the design and construction of these barrages.

Committee members

The committee is headed by J Chandrashekar Iyer who is former chairman of the Central Water Commission. The members include U.C. Vidyarthi, a scientist from the Central Soil and Materials Research Station Pune; R Patil, a scientist from the Central Water and Power Research Station; Shiv Kumar Sharma from CWC; Rahul Kumar Singh, Director of NDSA; and Amitabh Meena, Director of NDSA, as official members.

The pillars of the Medigadda barrage sunk in October 2023. The committee is set to investigate the reasons behind the sinking of these pillars. Similarly, the two upstream barrages Annaram and Sundilla are also showing cracks and distress.

Four months to study

The committee is going to study the design, and construction quality and submit the report in four months to the NDSA. Irrigation Minister of Telangana, Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy said: “I assure full cooperation from the state government for its investigation. The government is going to prioritize the recommendations of NDSA concerning the Kaleshwaram project.” Uttam Kumar emphasized that the committee was formed following a request for a comprehensive investigation into the sinking of Medigadda barrage piers and potential damage to the Annaram and Sundilla barrages.

Earlier recommendations of NDSA

In November 2023, NDSA inspected the collapsed Medigadda barrage and recommended the immediate emptying of water. Following inspections of the Sundilla and Annaram barrages, the Authority identified similar issues and directed that they be emptied. Based on the NDSA directions, the state government promptly released the water under the Authority's instructions.

Politics over Kaleshwaram project

The Kaleshwaram project has become a new political flashpoint between Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took MLAs from his party and All-India-Majlis-E-Ittehadul-Muslimeen to visit Kaleshwaram to take a firsthand account of the damage. This highly publicized visit was to pin down opponents using the damage to the dam as an alibi.

BRS leaders along with K T Rama Rao and other senior leaders visited the project and they demanded that the damaged pillars be repaired before monsoon so that the water can be filled.

Project is now a poll issue

The project is a major issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. BRS leaders are demanding that the pillars be repaired and water stored, Congress is flagging alleged faulty construction and design, poor quality, and maintenance of the project. BJP has flagged the corruption.

Cost of the project

The total cost of the cost was Rs 94,000 crore, of which Rs 9000 crore was for these three barrages. NDSA in its earlier reports has stated that the reports of completion of the project, pre and post-monsoon reports of storage have not been submitted to them.

The construction of the Kaleshwaram project began in 2016 and it was completed in 2019. The dam construction project was taken up by Larsen and Turbo Group.