The final report submitted by the expert committee of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) to the Telangana government with regard to the damages caused to Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on Godavari river in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district has kicked up a political slugfest in the state.
The 378-page report, which was seen by HT, explained what went wrong with the construction of Kaleshwaram project, including the redesigning of the original plan, relocation of the project site from Tummidihatti to Kaleshwaram and structural designs in Medigadda and two other barrages on the river – Annaram and Sundilla.
The report, which was prepared in December, was sent to the state government on April 24 after incorporating some more suggestions from the Union Jal Shakti ministry. “We shall discuss the report in the state cabinet to be held next week and initiate an appropriate action plan to restore the project,” state irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
The eight-member committee of NDSA, headed by former Central Water Commission chairman J Chandrasekhar Iyer, declared that the seventh block of the Medigadda barrage suffered irreversible damages due to sinking of piers from 16 to 21. The piers were cracked and displaced.
The committee said issues such as sand piping, cavity formation beneath the raft, construction flaws, and design deficiencies — already observed in seventh block of the Medigadda barrage — could also affect other blocks.
It recommended that this block should not be used for gate operations again though it may either be safely decommissioned or removed without affecting adjacent block. The cavities beneath the raft of this block must be completely filled, the report stated.
“As this could alter the foundation conditions, a fresh structural analysis should be done and a suitable rehabilitation plan must be designed and implemented with the design preferably reviewed by the Central Water Commission,” it said.
The upstream barrages, Annaram and Sundilla, which exhibit similar design and construction flaws, have experienced structural distress and damage, rendering them unserviceable. “All three barrages require comprehensive investigation from multiple angles,” it said.
The NDSA committee found fault with the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, stating that lack of a proper Operation and Maintenance (O&M) manual had adversely affected the functioning of hydro-mechanical components at the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages, contributing to their respective failures.
It said construction of all three barrages had begun while the Kaleshwaram project’s detailed project report (DPR) was still under appraisal by the Central Water Commission and other central agencies. The Irrigation department made substantial deviations from approved project parameters.
The report triggered a political slugfest with the BRS rejecting it outright saying it was politically motivated and its release was timed deliberately to damage the image of the BRS ahead of its silver jubilee celebrations scheduled to be held on Sunday.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao told reporters on Friday that the NDSA report lacked credibility, as it had not conducted any on-site inspection or testing at Medigadda before finalising the report. “This is not a NDSA report, but an NDA report, jointly authored by the BJP and the Congress,” he said.
He alleged that although the report was submitted in December, it was released just days before the BRS public meeting at Warangal, raising doubts about its intent. “The agenda is clear — to malign BRS,” he said.
The Congress, however, declared that the NDSA panel report was a direct indictment of the previous government, exposing serious flaws in its design, construction, and maintenance.
Irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said the NDSA report clearly stated that the design was faulty, construction was faulty, operation and maintenance were faulty. “Soil testing was not done properly, and no proper geophysical investigations were conducted,” he said.
He accused the previous BRS government of mortgaging Telangana’s future by borrowing over ₹1 lakh crore at high interest rates to build a project that failed under their own watch. “You claimed you were creating wonders with Kaleshwaram. But you designed it, you built it, and it collapsed during your regime,” he charged.
Countering allegations that the NDSA report was politically motivated, Uttam Kumar Reddy clarified that the NDSA is a central agency comprising the country’s top dam safety experts. He demanded a public apology from the BRS leaders to the farmers of Telangana.