Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has alleged that the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report that “exposed serious flaws” in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project, was a “direct indictment” of the previous BRS government.
“BRS leaders should have some shame. The NDSA report clearly stated that the design was faulty, the construction was faulty, and operation and maintenance were faulty. Soil testing was not done properly, and no proper geophysical investigations were conducted,” the Congress leader posted on ‘X’ on Friday.
BRS leaders claimed that “they were creating wonders” with the Kaleshwaram project, but their government “mortgaged Telangana’s future” by borrowing over Rs 1 lakh crore at high interest rates to build a project that failed under their watch, Reddy charged.
Referring to the contents of the NDSA report, the minister said the sand piping phenomenon, cavity formation underneath the raft, construction defects, design deficiencies, structural distress and other downstream damages had rendered Block-7 of the Medigadda barrage unserviceable.
He added that the NDSA committee noted similar issues in other blocks as well, based on geophysical investigations that revealed cavity formation under multiple sections of the barrage.
Uttam accused the previous BRS government of mortgaging Telangana’s future by borrowing over Rs 1 lakh crore at high interest rates to build a project that failed under its own watch. “You claimed you were creating wonders with Kaleshwaram. But you designed it, you built it and it collapsed during your regime,” he said.
Even in the absence of Kaleshwaram water, the state achieved record paddy production during the Kharif season, he said.
Refuting the allegations of the BRS that the report was politically motivated, Uttam clarified that the NDSA was a Central agency comprising the country’s top dam safety experts. “The NDSA was constituted when the BRS was in power. Neither CM Revanth Reddy nor I appointed it. It is a national body. You should be ashamed that your project was indicted by an institution formed during your own rule,” he told the BRS leaders.
All those responsible for the failure of the project would be held accountable, he declared, and said that the betrayal would not go unpunished.
