Kaleshwaram: Ghose panel tenure ends; probe paused

Hyderabad: Justice P Chandra Ghose Commission has reportedly halted its probe into alleged financial irregularities in the construction of Telangana’s Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, as well as issues surrounding the damage to the Medigadda, Sundilla, and Annaram barrages.

As the tenure of the Commission ended on October 31, the Commission halted all official proceedings regarding the investigation. The open house inquiry of the top irrigation officials, mainly the former secretaries of the State Irrigation Departments, was also discontinued due to the non-extension of the tenure of the Commission.

“The Commission was about to wind up the probe by quizzing former irrigation secretaries Rajat Kumar, Vikas Raj, Sk Joshi, Smith Sabarwal, and former chief secretary Somesh Kumar on Kaleshwaram estimations, the change of the DPRs, and the poor quality of the construction of the barrages that got damaged due to various reasons last year," said official sources.

“The Commission was planning to resume the probe in November second week and expecting a positive response from the State government on the extension of the tenure for two more months until December end,” they added.

Sources said that the Ghose Commission was planning to complete the probe by November end and submit a report with recommendations in December. All the information collected from the irrigation officials was already under scrutiny, and the Commission was verifying the facts from the affidavits submitted by the authorities. “The Commission also cross-examined the irrigation officials when it received contradictory statements and statistical data from the authorities,” sources added.

Officials said that the Commission would also take a call to summon former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and former irrigation minister to record their statements on the Kaleshwaram project and the damage to the barrages only after the government issued orders to extend the tenure of the Commission. Sources said that the government will take a decision on the extension of the Commission’s tenure by this weekend.