Central team continues probe into sinking of Telangana barrage

Hyderabad, Oct 25:  A team of experts sent by the Central government continued its probe into the sinking of Medigadda (Laxmi) barrage, a part of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP).

After visiting the barrage in Jayashankar Bhupalapally district, the team headed by National Dam Safety Authority Chairman met state government officials in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

State irrigation engineer-in-chief Muralidhar, KLIP engineer-in-chief N. Venkateshwarlu, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in CMO, Sridhar Deshpande and L&T representatives attended the meeting.

They briefed the Central team on the construction of the barrage and the precautions taken.

The team discussed technical issues and reasons for sinking of the barrage Muralidhar told media persons that all issues discussed the team sought more details about the construction of the barrage and related aspects.

The Engineer-in-Chief said there was no conspiracy behind the incident.

He said the movement of sand could have led to the sinking of a central pier in the seventh block. He denied that there was any compromise on quality.

"If there was any quality issue or fault in the design, it would not have withstood three floods. It handled even 25 lakh cusecs. If there was any such issue we would have known in the first flood," Muralidhar said.

He said the barrage was emptied of water and damaged area isolated to begin the restoration work L&T assured that they will fulfill their responsibility and restoration work will start soon, he said, adding that they plan to complete the entire work by coming summer season.

The Central team inspected the barrage in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has sent the team to examine the reasons for the sinking of the piers of the barrage.

The Ministry has asked the committee to submit a report after inspecting the barrage and interacting with all stakeholders.

The team assessed the damage to pillars 15 to 20 of the barrage as they reportedly sank in by a few feet on the night of October 21.

Officials said a portion of the barrage was found sagging at Block 7 of the barrage with a loud noise.

The incident led to temporary closure of the bridge of the barrage across Godavari river that links Telangana with Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

Suspecting sabotage, the project officials complained to local police which registered a case against unknown persons and took up investigation.

The barrage is 1.6 km long and the portion which is partially sunk is only 356 meters from Maharashtra.

The authorities have beefed up security and imposed prohibitory orders to prevent gathering of people.

The KLIP authorities have almost emptied the barrage which had about 10 tmc of water.

The stored water was let out by opening about 67 of the total 85 gates of the barrage to facilitate the technical assessment of the exact cause and damage.

The inflow is also being continuously discharged. With a total capacity of 16 TMC, this was the first barrage constructed as part of the prestigious KLIP, touted as the world's biggest lift irrigation project.

The project engineers have stated that there is no threat to the barrage.

They said the repair will be carried out after assessing the damage.

The incident has evoked sharp reaction from opposition Congress and BJP.

They blamed poor design and low quality of work for the incident and demanded resignation of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao owning moral responsibility.

They also alleged that the incident proved their allegation of large-scale corruption in the project.