Pumping operations suspended at Kaleshwaram barrages says Uttam

Impoundind water at Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages for pumping operations will pose threat to the temple town of Bhadrachalam and 44 villages along the side of the river, said Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Hyderabad: Continuing to echo the same old fears over the safety of the three sturdy structures of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project standing tall across Godavari river, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday categorically stated that the barrages at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla would not be put to use for now.

Addressing a news conference after a review with the top brass of the Irrigation department at Jala Soudha, he said the three barrages, “given their present condition, were not fit to hold any water”. In case of impounding water at the barrages to support pumping operations, they in turn pose threat to the temple town of Bhadrachalam and 44 villages along the side of the river.

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Even downstream projects such as Sammakka Sagar and the Sitarama project would face the same risk with huge water storage in the three barrages upstream, he said, pointing out that pumping operations were suspended at the three barrages as per the advice of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA).

The government was keen on putting the barrages back to use after full-fledged rehabilitation as decided by the Cabinet. The project that involved an expenditure of Rs.94,000 crore was now a property of the State. The State was already spending Rs.15,000 crore towards principal and interest for what the previous government had borrowed to construct the project, the Minister said.

Had the government completed the Chevella-Pranahita project that was taken up at an estimated cost of Rs.38,500 crore, the benefit would have been larger. Some 18.25 lakh acres would have come under cultivation by now, Uttam Kumar Reddy claimed.

Referring to fears voiced by BRS working president K T Rama Rao on a conspiracy by the Congress behind the damage caused to the Medigadda barrage, the Minister wanted Rama Rao to submit evidence if he had any in support of his apprehension to the Judicial Commission probing the case.

“Justice P C Ghosh Commission’s investigation on Kaleshwaram is continuing. KTR should submit if he has any evidence to the Commission,” he said.