HYDERABAD: “Are you a rubber stamp?” Ramagundam Chief Engineer K Sudhakar Reddy was bluntly asked by PC Ghose, chairman of the Commission of Inquiry on the Kaleshwaram project.
The question was in response to Sudhakar Reddy’s admission that he signed the substantial completion certificate without verifying the records.
Sudhakar Reddy, who worked as superintending engineer for the Kaleshwaram project earlier, deposed before the Commission for cross-examination at BRKR Bhavan on Saturday. When asked whether completion certificates were issued about Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla, he disclosed that the substantial completion certificate was issued for Medigadda barrage and completion certificates for Annaram and Sundilla barrages.
The chief engineer admitted that the executive engineer (EE) issued the substantial certificate for Medigadda and he, as a superintending engineer, countersigned it. The Commission then asked whether he verified records before countersigning the certificate, and Sudhakar Reddy said “no”.
Justice Ghose then asked Sudhakar Reddy: “I am putting to you that the completion certificate which was issued by you during your tenure, cannot be acceptable since you have not checked whether the works were completed or not. You signed it without properly checking the work done by them (agency). What do you say?” Sudhakar Reddy replied: “I only countersigned the substantial certificate. There are no established procedures or instructions issued by the department for following any methodology in respect of substantial completion of the certificate. In GO94, it was instructed to countersign”.
Substantial completion certificates were to be issued when the major components of the project were completed, he said. The CE, however, said that there was a procedure for issuing completion certificates.
To another question, Sudhakar Reddy said that the shooting velocities had shot up due to improper operation of gates. Because of this, damage to apron and CC blocks occurred to Medigadda barrage. He also said that as per the model studies conducted, it was evident that the energy dissipation was inadequate.