“No Project Collapsed Like Kaleshwaram in Independent India”: Minister Uttam Kumar

Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy today said that the NDSA report stated that the controversial Kaleshwaram irrigation project work was done without any distinction between the dam and the barrage.

He claimed that all the water was stored in Medigadda, which led to its eventual collapse. Uttam Kumar Reddy initiated the discussion in the House on Justice PC Ghosh’s report on the Kaleshwaram project.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the biggest project undertaken after the formation of Telangana state was the  Kaleshwaram project with a cost of Rs. 87,449 crores. But Medigadda, Sundilla, and Annaram, which were part of the Kaleswaram project, became useless.

“The Kaleshwaram project was taken up by changing the name of the Pranahita Chevella project. Medigadda, which is the heart of the Kaleshwaram project, was damaged. 3 barrages have become useless for 20 months.

The committee said that the then CM changed the designs of the Pranahita Chevella project. VAPCOS experts also said that a barrage should not be built in Medigadda. Leaving aside the Pranahita Chevella project, which was to be completed with a cost of Rs. 38 thousand crores, Kaleshwaram was started with a cost of Rs. 1.47 lakh crores. Only 162 TMCs were lifted from 2019 to 2023 from the project.

Only 20.2 TMCs were lifted from Kaleshwaram per year. The damage caused to the barrages has become a huge burden for the state. Despite spending Rs. 1 lakh crore, water was not provided to even 1 lakh acres. Such a disaster has not happened in any state since independence.

When the Medigadda Barrage collapsed, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government was in power. Bharat Rashtra Samiti leaders are talking about NDSA as they please. Bharat Rashtra Samiti supported the National Dam Safety Authority Bill when it was brought,” explained Uttam Kumar Reddy.