KLIS barrage rehabilitation to begin in November and will completed before 2027 monsoon, says Uttam

The Telangana government has finalised designs to rehabilitate the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram project. Repair works are likely to begin by mid-November and be completed before the 2027 monsoon, subject to technical clearances

Hyderabad: Buckling under severe criticism from various sections over the delay in the rehabilitation of the Kaleshwaram project, the Telangana government has decided to take up repair works on the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages. The works are likely to commence by mid-November and be completed before the onset of the 2027 monsoon.

The State government had earlier maintained that the works would be taken up as per the guidelines of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), but the latter had asserted that the responsibility rested with the State government.

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The announcement about the repairs came from Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy after he reviewed the rehabilitation proposals with senior officials here on Saturday. The Minister said the State government had finalised designs to restore the safety and operational reliability of the three barrages.

The rehabilitation scheme prepared by the project designer includes strengthening the foundations through grouting, extending the stilling basins and constructing new cutoff walls. The interventions are aimed at addressing deficiencies in the earlier energy-dissipation arrangements, foundation stability and under-seepage control.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the rehabilitation strategy had been formulated after taking into account concerns raised by the NDSA and other expert bodies over the safety of the barrages. The proposed designs are undergoing validation through computational fluid dynamics modelling at the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune. The modelling will assess hydraulic behaviour and verify the efficiency of the proposed energy-dissipation measures under different flow conditions.

The designs will be presented before the Technical Oversight Committee of the Central Water Commission in New Delhi on October 5 for expert examination and recommendations.

Uttam Kumar Reddy directed Irrigation officials to complete all preparatory work simultaneously to avoid delays after technical clearance. Accordingly, the department was preparing detailed cost estimates and finalising the contractual mechanism required for government approval, he said.

The process would facilitate immediate tendering and award of the works after approval of the designs. The Minister said the execution framework would include stringent quality-control procedures, independent testing and clearly defined timelines. Senior officials would continuously monitor the progress to ensure that the rehabilitation was completed before the next monsoon.

“The three barrages will be operated only after the rehabilitation works are completed and the requisite safety clearances are received from the national authorities,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

He instructed the department to fully comply with the directions of the NDSA and ensure that every stage, from design validation and tendering to execution and final safety certification, was properly documented and subjected to expert scrutiny.