Kaleshwaram project not collapsed, tenders expose govt’s hollow stand, says Harish Rao

During a heated debate in the Telangana Legislative Council, BRS leader T Harish Rao rebutted the Congress government's allegations regarding the Kaleshwaram project. He criticised the government’s contradictory actions of calling the project a failure while simultaneously issuing tenders linked to it.

Hyderabad: Exposing what he termed as false claims of the Congress government on the Kaleshwaram project, former Minister T Harish Rao said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) had clarified that restoration of Block VII of Medigadda barrage would be taken up after receiving results of investigations and expert committee opinions, and the barrage would continue to remain operational.

Replying to a question raised by Professor Kodandaram in the Legislative Council on whether Sundilla and Annaram barrages could collapse, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy had said they would not, thereby confirming their stability, Harish Rao pointed out. Intervening, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the NDSA, suspecting the strength of the foundations, had directed that water should not be stored in the barrages. “If you cannot store water, then what is the purpose of an irrigation project?” he asked.

---

Harish Rao argued that if the government permitted, all stakeholders including journalists, civil society organisations and even ruling party leaders could inspect whether water was being filled in Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar and Kaleshwaram. “This season, there were good rains and pumps were operated at SRSP, Yellampally and Kaleshwaram, and water was used,” he said.

He criticised the Congress government for alleging a collapse of the project while simultaneously floating tenders worth Rs.7,000 crore to bring water to Hyderabad. He added that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy himself laid the foundation for the Gandamalla reservoir, which would receive water from Mallanna Sagar, a component of Kaleshwaram.

“When there are good rains, we don’t use Medigadda and operate pumps from Mid Manair. The government has to calculate the water sourced from this point,” he said. He noted that in an average year, pumps were operated only from Yellampally and not always from Medigadda, stressing the government could not mislead people by projecting water drawn from Medigadda alone.

The former Minister recalled that the BRS government had spent Rs.252 crore on Yellampally and Rs.1,586 crore on Mid Manair. He reminded that during the Congress government’s tenure, the Yellampally right side earth bund was washed away in 2009, the Palem vagu project in Warangal was washed away in 2008 and 2009, the Kadem project was damaged in its very first year in 1958, and 80 dams across the country have suffered damages.

“Though Palem vagu collapsed during the Congress tenure, the BRS government did not constitute any commission. It was restored and water was given to people in 2017,” Harish Rao said.

As the Speaker urged him to conclude, Harish Rao remarked that he was interrupted 30 times by different Ministers. “I think they decided in the cabinet to interrupt me repeatedly,” he said.