Telangana terms NDSA committee report on barrage unsubstantiated

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has called “unsubstantiated” the report of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) committee which examined sinking of the piers of Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage, a part of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

The state government feels that a comprehensive indictment of the Kaleshwaram project was done in a hasty manner.

Rajat Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation and CAD Department, sent his reply to NDSA chairman Sanjay Kumar Sibal, who had sent a letter dated November 1 (Wednesday), communicating the findings of the committee constituted by NDSA.

The report, which became public on November 3 on Friday, stated that the piers of the barrage sank due to a combination of issues involving planning, design, quality control and operation and maintenance.

The development took a political colour with opposition BJP and Congress alleging that this proved their allegations of large-scale corruption in Kaleshwaram, touted as the world’s biggest lift irrigation project.

Coming four weeks before the Assembly elections, the report also embarrassed the BRS government.

“We have studied your comments and suggestions comprehensively and noted that many of them are either unsubstantiated or made without a full appreciation of the facts,” wrote Rajat Kumar.

He requested NDSA to cooperate with the state agencies in speedy and effective restoration of the prestigious and beneficial project in a ‘purely professional manner without any extraneous considerations.’

Rajat Kumar expressed surprise over the conclusions made about the causes of failure of Laxmi barrage without any investigative work by the committee. He wrote that correct causes can be determined only after proper inspection of the foundation and other related structures, which are currently under water

On Sibal’s observation that the Irrigation & CAD Department submitted only 11 out of the 20 documents sought by the team, the official mentioned that all the documents were shown to the committee during the inspection and subsequent interactive meetings. Later, on receipt of a letter from the NDSA committee, all 20 documents were mailed.

“However, without checking the details submitted by the SDSO a comprehensive indictment of the Kaleshwaram project was communicated to us in a hasty manner,” he said

The NDSA chairman was informed that a coffer dam is under construction by the agency to divert the water and facilitate the thorough inspection of the affected portions of the barrage. “Once this investigative work is completed, we would be able to assess the correct reasons for the sinking of the piers in the barrage. As such at this point of time, we are unable to agree to your conclusions.”

He called as “unsubstantiated” the comments related to poor quality control during project execution. He claimed that stringent quality control checks have been conducted while executing the secant piles and plinth connection between raft and cutoff.

The official also wrote that action on restoring full operations of the barrage has already been initiated. Operations of the barrage will only be started after the agency rectifies the damages.

He also termed comments pertaining to Annaram and Sundilla barrages unsubstantiated as the expert committee did not even visit the two barrages. “However, we assure you that both the barrages are included in the list of specified dams under the NDS Act and the SDSO is taking all the necessary measures to fully comply with the provisions of the Act.”

The NDSA chairman was communicated that diversion structures such as barrages are subjected to multiplicity of loading conditions like the surface flows, sub-surface flows, uplift pressures, scours and exit gradients, tail water level etc. These challenges individually and collectively are considered in the design process for Medigadda barrage in various combinations. 

He also mentioned that the Kaleshwaram Project was approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Jal Shakti Ministry on June 6, 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.

He claimed that completion of the Kaleshwaram project had a tremendous positive impact on the economy and ecology of the state. Agriculture production in the state increased by 300 percent. The average groundwater level 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.