Govt mulls legal action over Kaleshwaram irregularities

Hyderabad: The State Government is waiting for the completion of the probe into irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project and wants to make it a big issue and take all necessary legal actions against those found guilty for adopting wrong practices.

It is learnt that during the probe, top irrigation officials informed the Ghose commission that there were several faulty practices adopted in construction and maintenance of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages under the Kaleshwaram project.

Replying to a volley of questions during the open house enquiry, State Engineer- In- Chief ( Operation and Maintenance ) Nagendar said that the dam safety norms prescribed by state and NDSA were not followed and the CWC manual was not followed on issues pertaining to safety and operation and maintenance of the barrages.

Nagendar said that Ramagundam ENC L Venkateswarlu had not taken any action on the reports given by O&M. The report has also not been submitted to the commission. When the commission asked the official whether the dam safety regulations were followed, the official said that the construction companies have also not followed the agreement operations protocol of the Dam Safety Act. He said water storage in the three barrages were also not maintained properly till 2019, he disclosed that there was shortage of staff for operations till January 2021. After the formation of the operation and maintenance team in 2021, the irrigation wing deployed staff.

The ENC confessed the three barrages were maintained only by the Ramagundam ENC and leakages occurred in barrages due to lack of proper maintenance. Gates were also not operated properly as there was no SoP or proper manual.

The Ghose commission is said to have posed over 130 questions to Nagender. The officials said that regulations were not followed in the release of the completion certificate of the Medigadda barrage to the contract agency.

Sources said that the Commission grilled the official on various aspects, including the engineering efficiency adopted in the construction of the project and the monitoring of the quality of the works by the irrigation engineers and the protocol adopted to conduct a review on the construction of the barrages.

The official assured the commission that he would submit all information sought by Justice Ghose in writing before summoning the other top officials, mainly former Secretaries of the Irrigation wing, in the next open house hearing.