State seeks interim report from NDSA on KLIS barrages as desired by judicial commission

Justice Ghose interacted with officials of the Irrigation Department right from the Irrigation Secretary to the Chief Engineer of the project for the initial briefing after a powerpoint presentation.

Hyderabad: At the behest of the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Judicial Commission, the State government has written once again to the National Dam Safety Authority requesting to speed up its investigation and facilitate interim repairs on the Medigadda barrage well before the onset of monsoon so as to save it from further damage in the event of heavy floods.

The Commission, tasked with the responsibility of scrutinizing issues of negligence, irregularities and deficiencies, if any, in relation to planning and execution of the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages, that are integral components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, has initiated the inquiry and completed the first round of the information gathering exercise.

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Justice Ghose interacted with officials of the Irrigation Department right from the Irrigation Secretary to the Chief Engineer of the project for the initial briefing after a powerpoint presentation. He was appraised of the present status of the barrage after three of its piers started sinking.

He also enquired about the way out on rehabilitation. As precious time was already lost for taking up any kind of permanent rehabilitation works at this stage, he reportedly suggested the Irrigation Secretary to expedite the process for obtaining interim report from the NDSA panel investigating the sinking of the barrage piers and structural issues reported in other two barrages also.

He also wanted the documents pertaining to the planning and implementation of the projects to be submitted in original to the Judicial Commission.

As the State Vigilance wing, which was tasked by the State government with the probe, was in possession of the documents, he wanted all the documents to be handed over to the Commission in original.

Photocopies of almost all the documents were submitted to the Commission, officials said, adding that at some point of time, the original documents have to be submitted to the Commission as it would be going by the veracity of each piece of paper. The documents that were submitted to the Commission included the CAG reports and the white paper the government came out with on the irrigation sector.

All the mandatory notifications due from the Commission before initiating the inquiry process were issued. He also interacted with the staff allotted for the Commission before leaving for Kolkata on Saturday.

He will be taking stock of the structural issues that were reported in all the three barrages from May 6 to 8.