NDSA team will visit the barrages of Kaleshwaram project on March 6.

Hyderabad. The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), on the request of the Telangana government, has constituted a six-member committee to inspect and study the design and construction of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundila barrages of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS). Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday said that the expert committee is going to come on March 6 for a thorough investigation of the Kaleshwaram project. He assured the team of full cooperation from the state government in the investigation.
He emphasized that the government will give priority to the recommendations of the NDSA. The minister said the committee led by former Central Water Commission chairman J Chandrasekhar Iyer will probe the reasons behind the sinking of the Medigadda barrage pillars and inspect the crisis at the two upstream barrages, Annaram and Sundila. The minister said the committee was formed following a request for a comprehensive investigation into the sinking of the Medigadda barrage ghats and possible damage to the Annaram and Sundila barrages.
An NDSA team, which inspected the Medigadda barrage in October last year, had recommended immediate evacuation of the water. After inspection of Sundila and Annaram barrages it had identified similar issues and directed that they be evacuated. However, Uttam Kumar Reddy said BRS leaders were trying to politicize the issue by demanding filling of those barrages. He said BRS leaders lack technical knowledge and criticized the previous BRS government for neglecting the quality, maintenance, construction and design of the Kaleshwaram project and breaking all rules.
Noting that the Medigadda barrage was built under the Kaleshwaram project at Rs 94,000 crore, he expressed disappointment that BRS leaders were trying to hush up the incident by saying that only one pillar had collapsed.