Deadline set by Dam Safety Authority to govt expires today

Hyderabad: All fingers are now being pointed at L&T which has constructed Lakshmi Barrage under the Kaleshwaram project whose pillars got sunk on October 21. Even the National Dam Safety Authority has expressed its displeasure over the L&T not giving the details of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP).

The National Dam Safety Authority has set Sunday as the deadline to the Telangana government to submit the details of the project.

The Authority has asked the government to furnish the details of 20 types of information regarding the construction of Medigadda Barrage. The official delegation of the authority had visited the project site and conducted a study and ascertained the safety of the barrage.

Though it is the L&T, which had constructed and is under obligation to maintain the project for three years, so far issued a statement saying that it was studying the reasons for sinking of the pillars.

However, it has been maintaining silence regarding the possible cause of the sinking of the pillar which was inaugurated amidst much fanfare in October 2019. What is more, none of the L&T officials are willing to respond to any queries from the media. This silence raises several doubts among the people regarding the incident. Even the state government is still not clear about the cause of sinking of the pillars as it appears that the L&T is yet to give full information to the Irrigation department though it is more than a week since the incident had taken place.

Meanwhile, state Special Secretary to Irrigation Rajat Kumar held a meeting with irrigation officials and enquired about the status of the sinking of piers and the safety measures taken by the contract agency after the incident. Based on the information the irrigation department had got from the L&T and the officials of the department who had visited and inspected the site, the government would submit the details of the project to the dam safety authority.