Sinking of Medigadda Barrage piers: Govt rubbishes NDSA report

Telangana State government has raised strong objections to the NDSA (National Dam Safety Authority)’s findings on the sinking of piers of Medigadda Barrage.

In a strong letter to NDSA Chairman, State Special Chief Secretary Rajat Kumar said that the conclusions have been made about the causes of failure of Laxmi Barrage without any investigative work by the official committee which visited the barrage recently.

In order to clarify the issues raised in the letter, the government submitted para-wise remarks on the findings of the NDSA on Medigadda Barrage. “Without checking the details submitted by the SDSO, a comprehensive indictment of the Kaleshwaram project was communicated to us in a hasty manner”. The Irrigation Special Chief Secretary said that the Kaleshwaram Project has been approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2018 after thoroughly examining all the aspects like hydrology, costing, irrigation planning, environmental clearances etc. In particular the design of the barrage has been extensively studied by the Costing Directorate of the CWC with respect to functionality and costing. The then Chairman of the Central Water Commission, S Masood Hussain appreciated the Telangana government for speedy execution of work and said that they had not seen any irrigation project of such magnitude and described the project as an “Engineering Marvel”.

Further, the completion of the Kaleshwaram project, has had tremendous positive impact on the economy and ecology of the State. Agriculture production in the state has increased by 300 per cent. The average groundwater level has increased by over 7 metres due to supply of surface water for irrigation and recharging of underground aquifers. A tremendous growth is seen in fisheries and tourism sectors. The overall positive impact of Kaleshwaram Project has resulted in Telangana leading in India with highest per capita income of Rs 3.17 lakh, up from about Rs 1.28 lakh at the time of formation of the State.

The government has requested the NDSA to cooperate with the State agencies in speedy and effective restoration of this prestigious and beneficial project in a purely professional manner without any extraneous considerations, as this would be of tremendous benefit to people of Telangana State.