Centre deputes team to Telangana to study damage of barrage in Kaleswaram project

The bridge has caved in the area where pillars numbering from 15 to 20 of Block 7 of the barrage had 'partially sunk' on Saturday (October 21) night, setting off alarm bells in the state.

The team has been constituted by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), a unit of the ministry of water resources, as per the Dam Safety Act 2021. It will be headed by Anil Jain, CE (NW&S) CWC & member (D&R), NDSA.

According to Rakesh Kumar, NDSA director, the team will interact with all the stakeholders, including officers of state water resources department, the agency involved in the barrage construction etc. The team will subsequently submit a detailed report duly indicating the reasons for the incident, Kumar said in the order issued on Sunday (October 22).

Engineering marvel or symbol of corruption?

While the BRS government calls the Kaleswaram Project an engineering marvel created to mitigate the water woes of the state, the political parties describe this structure as a symbol of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s government's corruption. During their visits to the state, Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had branded this barrage as the embodiment of the corruption of family rule.

It was dubbed as CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s ATM.

Meanwhile, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy urged Telangana governor Tamilisai Sounderarajan to order an inquiry into the sinking of the pillar of the Kaleswaram project since he suspected an attempt to cover up lapses on the government’s part.

“The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) should also inquire into the charges of corruption in the execution of the project at a cost of ₹1 lakh crore. The mishap points to the corruption and inferior quality of the work,” Reddy said in New Delhi.

Union minister and state BJP present G Kishan Reddy said the suggestions of independent experts were not taken into consideration while building the project at this site. “This is a strange anti-gravity project and chief minister KCR built the project as if he was a super engineer. A thorough inquiry should be conducted into the execution of the project,” he said.

Manthani Congress MLA D Sridhar Babu too made a vain attempt to visit the site but he was not given permission.

The 1.6 km long barrage has 86 piers and it connects the state with Maharashtra.

Damage to the barrage

In a significant setback to KCR’s government in the run-up to the November 30 Assembly polls, the barrage suffered damage on Saturday night reportedly due to heavy inflows. Its pillar number 19 sunk into the river bed resulting in a portion of the bridge to sag. An unidentified person posted the damage in the barrage on social media creating panic among the public and officials.

This damage led to traffic movement being prohibited between Telangana and Maharashtra. According to officials, Pillars 20 and 21 also developed cracks. To prevent any further damage, the irrigation department has started releasing about 10 tmcft of water downstream by lifting five of the 86 gates of the barrage, KLIS engineer-in-chief N Venkateswarlu told the media.

Conspiracy angle gains ground

Even before the cause of the damage is yet to be verified, a theory of sabotage has also been doing the rounds. A loud sound that was heard before the sinking of the pillars is being cited as the reason to suspect foul play.

A complaint has been allegedly lodged with the police to probe the conspiracy angle. “Special teams are investigating the incident. We are ascertaining if there was any conspiracy in view of the upcoming elections,” JS Bhupalpally SP Kiran Prabhakar told the media.

An official told The Federal that experts from Chennai and New Delhi were also being consulted.

L&T clarifies

Built by L& T in 2019, the barrage has withstood five flood seasons. Last year, it had recorded a flood of 28.7 lakh cusecs against the design discharge of 28.25 lakh cusecs.

Meanwhile, experts from L&T, which executed the project said the sagging of a portion has occurred after a loud sound at one of the locations of Block 7 of the barrage.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the company assured that all necessary steps would be taken to rectify the damages at the earliest. An expert team has already been deputed to the project site to assess the sudden damages. The company said that L&T will take necessary action to rectify the damages upon technical assessment and offer a way forward at the earliest, said S Suresh Kumar, L& T general manager, business unit head (Hydel and Tunnel).

Prohibitory orders at project site

The project is now out of bounds for the public and the bridge has been closed to traffic. Maharashtra-bound vehicles have been diverted to another route.

The other members of the centrally appointed team to study the damage to the barrage are S K Sharma, director BCD (E&NE), CWC & director NDSA, R Thangamani, director NDSA, SR, (Chennai), Rahul K Singh, director gates (NW&S), CWC & director NDSA and Devender Rao, SE, Godavari circle, CWC and DD, KGBO (To be nominated by CE KGBO, Hyderabad).