PC Ghose Commission’s report on anticipated lines; blames KCR

The report to be presented in the Assembly and the Legislative Council has been approved by the Cabinet. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy claims that suggestions of all parties and their legislators, including Leader of Opposition K Chandrashekhar Rao and the then Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao, would be sought

Hyderabad: As anticipated, the Justice PC Ghose Commission’s report, which was presented before the State cabinet on Monday, has held former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao responsible for alleged lacunae in designing, construction and operation and maintenance of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project’s Medigadda, Sundilla and Annaram barrages.

The sinking of two piers of the Medigadda Barrage in October 2023, just before the Assembly elections, had triggered a major political storm in the State, with the Congress immediately terming the entire Kaleshwaram project a failure and the BJP-led Centre hastening to send a National Dam Safety Authority team which submitted an interim report within weeks, finding fault with the planning and design of the project. The issue, which was a major poll plank for both the Congress and the BJP, saw the narrative being targeted at former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

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On Monday, the same narrative continued as Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that the Congress cabinet had approved the Justice PC Ghose Commission’s report on Kaleshwaram and with Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka targeting Chandrashekhar Rao.

The report would be presented in the Assembly and the Legislative Council, and the future course of action would be finalised accordingly, Revanth Reddy said, claiming that suggestions of all parties and their legislators, including Leader of Opposition K Chandrashekhar Rao and the then Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao, would be sought.

Addressing media persons after a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said an Assembly session would be convened soon and the Commission’s 660-page report would be presented before the legislators.

“It is natural for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to oppose the Commission’s report. The BRS has been finding fault with the Commission,” Revanth Reddy said, claiming that this was not a political party investigation report nor a government report.

“It is an independent judicial commission’s enquiry report. The Commission gave ample opportunities to all the persons and submitted its report after conducting a detailed probe for 16 months,” he claimed, adding that the State government would strictly follow the recommendations made by the Commission.

Earlier, Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, making a presentation to the media, alleged that “illogical and irrational decisions” were taken to abandon the Tummadihatti project, which was estimated to cost R.32,000 crore.

“Even after the previous Congress government spent nearly Rs 11,000 crore as part of the project, the BRS government decided to relocate it to Medigadda,” he said, alleging that “manipulations” led power finance corporations and REC and NBFCs to give loans.

“But soon after construction, the Kaleshwaram project collapsed,” he alleged, adding that the NDSA had identified lacunae in the planning, design, construction and operation and maintenance of Medigadda barrage in November 2023 itself, and that it had identified similar foundation problems in the Annaram, Sundilla and Medigadda barrages. The team also clearly mentioned that there was no scope for storing water in the barrages, he maintained.

Bhatti Vikramarka, alleging that Chandrashekhar Rao had misled the Assembly with false claims over water availability, said the Commission had “clearly mentioned that the former Chief Minister, along with former Irrigation Minister, had set aside the retired engineers committee report and taken personal decisions.

“There was no cabinet approval for the construction of Medigadda barrage as claimed by former Finance Minister Etala Rajender,” he claimed.