NDSA team takes stock of Medigadda barrage

The team climbed down to the bottom part of the affected piers for examining them physically.

Hyderabad: A six-member expert team deputed by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) on Tuesday took stock of the sagging portion in the sixth block of the Lakshmi Barrage (Medigadda) on Tuesday.

The team led by NDSA chairman Anil Jain examined six pillars (no 15 to 20) and their bearings, the resting surface between the piers of a bridge and its deck, as part of its mission to find out what caused the piers to sink. They sought to find out whether it was the result of any seismic activity in the vicinity or the malfunctioning of the bearings that were intended to provide back and forth motion to the structure.

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The team climbed down to the bottom part of the affected piers for examining them physically. The team also interacted with the project authorities including Engineer-in-Chief N Venkateswarlu and representatives of the L&T, the agency involved in the construction of the barrage. The team is expected to submit a detailed report to the union Jal Shakti Minister in a day or two.

The technical expert team of the L&T, which built the 1.632-km-long Lakshmi Barrage with 86 piers in 2019, has also taken up a parallel exercise to assess the damage caused to the affected piers of the barrage. The L&T authorities have already assured that necessary steps would be taken to rectify the damage following the technical assessment.

Mahadevpur police register case

Meanwhile, the Mahadevpur police on Tuesday started investigation into sinking of the Medigadda barrage piers by registering a case under section 427 of IPC and section 3 of the Prevention of Damages to Public Properties Act.

An assistant executive engineer of the the Medigadda barrage (Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project) had lodged the complaint with the police alleging the barrage and the bridge over it started sinking because of the damage caused by unknown offenders. He noticed structural damages on pier no 19, 20 and 21 after hearing huge noise of jolt while on duty at 6.20 pm on October 21. A special team formed for the purpose has been tasked with the investigation.