HYDERABAD: The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) directed the state government to carry out repairs and rehabilitation works on the Singur project to safeguard the dam and avoid penalty clauses of the Dam Safety Act 2021.
The NDSA also directed the officials to submit an action plan by August 21, 2025.
In a letter to the state government, NDSA Regional Director R Giridhar said: “The detailed safety review panel (DSRP) report, as per the pre-monsoon 2025 inspection of the M Bagareddy Singur Project on the Manjeera river, revealed that the revetment on the upstream slope is severely disturbed and settled, and the u/s earthen slope is devoid of revetment stone at various locations near the full reservoir level (FRL) portion.
"Longitudinal cracks are present on the top of the earth dam adjacent to the parapet wall. The parapet wall has also tilted towards upstream, and displacements have taken place at the location of joints.”
“As per the original design of the dam, the reservoir level could be operated up to the level of 517.8 m. However, in October 2017, the government instructed it to maintain a minimum level of 520.50 m for the Mission Bhagiratha scheme. The reservoir level has generally been maintained at 522 m and above in the past many years,” the letter added.
The NDSA regional director also informed the chairman of the State Committee on Dam Safety: “These features indicate that the stability of the dam is in a high-risk condition, warranting immediate strengthening measures. It is desirable to restore the earth dam at the earliest without any loss of time. Further, some important water resources projects, namely Manjeera Barrage and Nizamsagar Dam, are also downstream on the Manjeera river, which makes the safety of the M Bagareddy Singur Project very critical. In view of this, to take up repair and rehabilitation works on the Singur project.”