HYDERABAD: Former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will appear before the Commission of Inquiry on Kaleshwaram, headed by former Supreme Court judge PC Ghose, on Wednesday.
KCR will become the first former chief minister from Telangana and the second from undivided Andhra Pradesh after N Chandrababu Naidu to depose before such a commission.
Former irrigation minister T Harish Rao, who appeared before the Commission on Monday, met KCR at the latter’s farmhouse in Erravalli for the second straight day on Tuesday. The two are understood to have discussed possible questions that the Commission may pose to KCR during his deposition. Former Roads and Buildings minister Vemula Prasanth Reddy was also present at the meeting.
Anticipating a large gathering of BRS supporters at the BRKR Bhavan, where the Commission’s office is located, the police have put in place tight security arrangements.
Meanwhile, the state government is awaiting KCR’s response to the Commission on several matters concerning the Kaleshwaram project. These include the shifting of the project’s source from Tummidihatti to Medigadda, design flaws, quality concerns, the sinking of piers at Medigadda, alleged lack of maintenance and claims that the project’s construction commenced without formal Cabinet approval.
Government sources stated that the Commission may also question KCR about payments made prior to the completion of the project and about objections reportedly raised by the Vigilance wing and the technical committee of the National Dam Safety Authority.
According to government sources, former finance minister Eatala Rajender told the Commission that the Cabinet sub-committee, of which he was a member, had placed the Kaleshwaram proposal before the Cabinet, which subsequently approved it.
Inconsistencies ‘noticed’ in Harish’s response
However, Thummala Nageswara Rao, also a member of that sub-committee, contested Rajender’s claim, stating that the sub-panel had no involvement in the decision to proceed with construction.
Sources pointed out that on March 1, 2016, the then government issued a GO granting administrative approval for constructing the Medigadda barrage.
Two weeks later, on March 15, 2016, a Cabinet sub-committee was constituted to study the re-engineering of irrigation projects. Thummala Nageswara Rao reportedly provided documentary evidence to support this timeline.
Government sources also described the responses given by Harish to the Commission on Monday as inconsistent. Harish stated that the Medigadda project was undertaken following recommendations from the Central Water Commission (CWC) and Water and Power Consultancy Services.
However, prior to the formation of the Cabinet sub-committee in March 2016, the chief engineer of the Irrigation department had written to the Irrigation principal secretary on April 2, 2015, requesting the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for constructing a barrage at Medigadda.
Based on this letter, the government issued a GO on April 13, 2015, assigning a consultancy firm the task of preparing the DPR for the Medigadda barrage as part of the Kaleshwaram project.
This sequence of events, according to the sources, contradicts Harish’s claim that construction commenced on the recommendation of the consultancy.
This discrepancy has led to debate over the veracity of statements made before the Ghose Commission on Kaleshwaram, the government sources said.