BHUPALPALLY: Stating that the government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday stressed the need to bring to light the misuse of funds in the name of the project.
Uttam was speaking after inspecting Medigadda and Annaram barrages, both key components of the KLIS, along with his Cabinet colleagues Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy (Revenue), D Sridhar Babu (IT), Komatireddy Venkat Reddy (Roads and Buildings) and Ponnam Prabhakar (Transport) and MLC T Jeevan Reddy.
During the visit of the ministers, Engineer-in-Chief (ENC) C Muralidhar made a PowerPoint presentation (PPT) on KLIS, giving details of the project’s construction, expenditures and arrangements for the lifting of the third tmcft of water.
However, Venkat Reddy and Jeevan Reddy posed some tough questions to the ENC and when he struggled to answer them, they asked him to give his response in writing. Seeing his discomfiture, Uttam instructed the ENC to submit a comprehensive report addressing the concerns raised.
Speaking to the media later, Uttam accused the previous BRS government of deceiving the people of Telangana in the guise of a national project. “The BRS government duped the people of Telangana in the name of a national project. In 2018 itself, a Union minister had said that the Telangana government was not following the prescribed format for getting national status for the project,” Uttam said.
He pointed out discrepancies in Budget allocations, with the initial budget of Rs 38,000 crore escalating to Rs 1.27 lakh crore. The Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) was also sharply criticised for failing to point out irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the project.
Stating that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had announced a judicial inquiry into KLIS, Uttam reiterated the government’s commitment to reviewing the possibilities of constructing the Dr BR Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project.
He also said that national agencies had approved the Tammidihatta project across the Godavari on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border for water availability in Telangana.Later, the ministers and Jeevan Reddy inspected the Medigadda and Annaram barrages.
During the inspection, Venkat Reddy raised questions about the quality of construction, expressing concerns about the damage to piers and the submerged motors. Shocked, the ENC did not answer the minister’s questions during the PPT, leaving Venkat Reddy fuming. “Why were you silent when assembled motors were used? Did the BRS government not charge Rs 4,000 crore and use assembled motors for lifting the water,” he asked.
He also criticised the ENC for not objecting to former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao taking up the Kondapochamma reservoir. “It appears to be full of water but Bhongir and Aler are not getting any,” Venkat Reddy said, adding that the post of the ENC was not to please a political party but to serve the people of the state.
Sridhar Babu and Jeevan Reddy also questioned the ENC about irregularities and expenditures. Sridhar Babu pointed out that the lifting of two tmcft was still incomplete despite an expenditure of Rs 1,27,000 crore and criticised the BRS government for spending an additional Rs 33,45,901 crore for preparations for lifting the third tmcft of water.Later, the ministers also inspected the damaged piers of the Medigadda Barrage.
Speaking to the media later, Uttam alleged that Rs 1.5 lakh crore was misused while only 97,000 acres of ayacut was created, that too for political purposes. He said that the barrages constructed by the BRS government were damaged as it had adopted a non-serious attitude towards the project.“Three barrages were constructed by the BRS government of which Medigadda and Annaram have been damaged and we cannot be confident about the quality of construction of Sundilla,” he said.
Uttam said that after the state government made the PowerPoint presentation in the Assembly, the people of Telangana now know that the BRS government left the treasury with Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore in unpaid bills. “The claims of BRS leaders that the KCR government created assets for Telangana is totally false,” he said.After concluding their inspection, the delegation left for Hyderabad.