Harish reminds the government of its duty on Medigadda Barrage

Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao on Sunday alleged that the Congress government was negligent in taking a report from the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) for repairs. He said if anything happens to the Medigadda barrage, the responsibility would be of the government. Rao lashed out at Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy over his remarks that former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had spent more government money than was commissioned in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project. Uttam held a high-level meeting on Telangana irrigation projects with the NDSA in Delhi on Saturday. Reacting to this, Rao refused to comment on the Kaleshwaram project construction. “Uttam Kumar Reddy should stop political criticism and focus on bringing Kaleshwaram back into use,” he said. “He has exposed the lack of understanding in the meeting in Delhi. While he says all measures were taken, he said soil testing was not possible at Medigadda. It is the government’s fault for not completing technical testing before the floods. Is it not negligence to say that the tests were not conducted because of the floods? It is also the failure of the NDSA, which has not given any suggestions on safety measures,” he said. Rao said the government has shown negligence in bringing out the report. Uttam Kumar Reddy had said that a new project would be built at Tummidihatti. The minister should tell at what height the barrage would be built at Tummidihatti. “If you want to build it at 152 metres, you have to convince Maharashtra first. Who was the one to leave the work without convincing Maharashtra that day? Is it not your failure? Doesn’t Uttam know that even if the barrage is built at Tummidihatti, without a lift, the water will not go to Yellampalli by gravity?” he said. Rao reiterated that the re-engineering efforts have improved the water storage capacity of the reservoirs without compromising on pumping water from Yellampalli. He stressed that both Pranahita-Chevella and Kaleshwaram are multi-stage lift irrigation schemes, which have the same power