Telangana Govt shows door to two Engineer-in-Chiefs of Irrigation dept

Telangana government asked C Muralidhar, Engineer-in-Chief (General) to resign while another senior engineering official of the same rank, N Venkateswarlu, who was in-charge of the implementation of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project was removed from service

Hyderabad: Setting the stage for a revamp of the State Irrigation Department, the government on Wednesday asked C Muralidhar, Engineer-in-Chief (General) to resign while another senior engineering official of the same rank, N Venkateswarlu, who was in-charge of the implementation of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) was removed from service. The action against the latter came in the wake of a Vigilance report.

The unceremonious exit of Muralidhar was viewed as the culmination of the row over the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s move to hand over the management protocols of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam to KRMB. The removal of Venkateswarlu is said to the fallout of the Vigilance probe ordered by the State government into the sagging of pillars in Medigadda barrage, one of the key components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

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Both the engineers-in-chief have been serving the State government on extension. Muralidhar retired from service on superannuation on June 30, 2013. The State government felt the need for continuing him as most of the irrigation projects in implementation at the time of the State bifurcation were at a critical phase.

Venkateshwarlu joined the department of Irrigation and Command Area Development in 1986 as an assistant executive engineer and rose to the top level as an engineer-in-chief in a span of 29 years. He was holding a key position in the implementation of the multi-stage KLIP. As part of the probe initiated by the state government, vigilance officials raided the offices of both the officials and took possession of key documents last month.

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy reportedly conveyed the government decision to Muralidhar.