Justice Ghose Commission visits Medigadda, Govt begins repair works at barrages

Hyderabad: Justice Chandra Ghose Commission on Kaleshwaram project visited Medigadda barrage on Tuesday and took stock of the status of the barrage which was damaged due to the sinking of the piers last year. Meanwhile, the Irrigation wing has begun an exercise to implement the interim measures recommended by NDSA (National Dam Safety Authority) at damaged barrages before the onset of the monsoon season this year. Officials said that Ghose enquired irrigation officials about the quality of the barrage and the reasons for the damage of the structure.

The Commission asked the officials to furnish the details of the barrage, mainly the quality maintenance during the construction and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the project after the inauguration of the multi-crore Kaleshwaram project in 2018. Recommendation on interim measures at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla was also discussed during the visit.

The officials told Ghose that NDSA submitted an interim report and recommended measures to resume the functioning of the barrages in the monsoon to ensure irrigation facility in the Kaleshwaram ayacut. Measures would be undertaken for Block numbers 1 to 6 and Block No 8 at Medigadda before the onset of monsoon. As part of that, the condition of the upstream & downstream secant pile and the condition of the upstream and downstream parametric joint would be assessed.

“In order to avoid/minimize hydraulic forces on gates as well as structure, all gates shall be lifted to fully opened position before onset of monsoon. Before doing so, all the components of the radial gate such as skin plate, horizontal girders, arms, trunnion bracket, trunnion pin, bush, trunnion/yoke girder, anchorages, trunnion assembly alignments, seal assembly, side rollers, wall plate assembly, lifting arrangements, hoist bridge, wire rope, stoplogs, gantry crane etc., in respect of each gate shall thoroughly be checked for integrity of components and their joints with other components along with clearances, and commensurate remedial measures, as required, shall be carried out”, the NDSA said in the interim report.