Telangana Govt to probe into sinking of Medigadda piers: Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed the officials to make arrangements for his visit to the project site, along with the engineers, officials and the contract agencies concerned

Hyderabad: The State government on Monday decided to probe into the structural integrity of the Medigadda (Lakshmi) barrage, in the wake of sinking of one of the piers of the project recently. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed the officials to make arrangements for his visit to the project site, along with the engineers, officials and the contract agencies concerned.

The Minister who reviewed various projects of the Irrigation department at Jalasaudha here on Monday, said that the State government is committed to maintain transparency and accountability on expenditure incurred for construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and other projects. As these projects were being constructed with people’s tax revenue, he asserted that those involved in construction of projects should act responsibly and probe into the allegations of corruption and discrepancies.

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On the occasion, Engineer-in-Chief Muralidhar Rao provided a detailed account of the prevailing situation to the Minister at Medigadda. He informed that one of the piers, sunk by 1.2 metres and affected three more piers. However, the officials and engineers involved, responded swiftly and removed the water to mitigate further sagging. The barrage was constructed at a cost of Rs 4,600 crore.

Expressing concern over the project condition, Uttam Kumar Reddy pressed officials for financial details, questioning the expenditure, the extent of construction for irrigation purposes, and the cost of cultivation per acre, to the government. He also asked the officials to make arrangements for review and visit to the project sites of all the major lift irrigation schemes including Kaleshwaram, Palamuru-Rangareddy and Sitarama projects among others.

He also assured to complete the pending projects and also maintain over 40,000 tanks spread across the State to supply water to a larger ayacut at lesser cost. He stated that the State government will also take up issues pertaining to rightful share in Krishna River water and also national project status for Palamuru-Rangareddy project, with the union government for speedy solutions. He directed the officials to submit a detailed report to him on all the existing, ongoing and pending irrigation projects as well as new ayacut created after the Telangana State was formed.