TS govt, L&T begin probe

Hyderabad: The Telangana government and infrastructure major L&T have launched a probe into an incident where a few pillars of the Medigadda barrage sank in by a few feet, threatening the structure.

The officials are emptying the reservoir which has about 10 tmc of water at present. The reservoir, which is part of the multi-reservoir Kaleshwaram project, has a total capacity of 16 tmc.

“Our technical expert team is already deputed to the project site to assess the cause of the damage along with the state authorities,” an L&T spokesperson said. “L&T will take necessary action to rectify the damage upon technical assessment of the damage and way forward solution at the earliest possible time,” he said.

“Last year, this barrage experienced the highest recorded flood of 28.70 lakh cusecs against design discharge of 28.25 lakh cusecs. The design of barrage was given by the State authorities. The barrage continued to operate safely and withstood even in unprecedented floods of July 2022,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“We could do that only after emptying the reservoir. It could take two days. A team from the Dam Security Organisation of the Central Government will also visit the reservoir site to assess the situation and suggest measures to rectify it,” government sources said.

The police have closed the barrage for traffic and have been asking the commuters to take alternative routes.