HYDERABAD: Former minister and BRS working president K T Rama Rao has questioned the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and accused the BJP and the authorities of adopting double standards on the issue.
In a post on X on Saturday, he said, “Polavaram in Andhra Pradesh, which is being built by the NDA government after being accorded national project status, has collapsed for the second time. Is this not visible to the NDSA?”
Recalling that two pillars of Kaleshwaram had developed cracks, Rama Rao said both the Congress and BJP had mocked the project by calling it ‘Kooleshwaram’. He asked whether the same leaders would dare to use a similar term for Polavaram, which had suffered repeated damages.
He alleged that the BJP had ensured the NDSA rushed to inspect Medigadda within 24 hours after its pillars sank in a “suspicious” manner during the Assembly elections, only to launch a smear campaign against the BRS. “Why did the BJP remain silent when the Polavaram coffer dam collapsed before their very eyes for the second time?” he asked.
According to him, the Polavaram coffer dam had sunk to a depth of 7–8 feet over a 10-foot width and was being repaired secretly on a war footing. In contrast, he pointed out, “Twenty months have passed since the Medigadda pillars sank, but not a single bag of cement has been used for repairs, thanks to the foolishness of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.”
Rama Rao further questioned the silence of the NDSA when the Polavaram diaphragm wall was washed away just two years after its construction in 2020. “Why was there no reaction from the NDSA when the Polavaram coffer dam was swallowed by Godavari waters, or when eight lives were lost in the SLBC tunnel collapse in Telangana?” he demanded.
Accusing both the Congress and BJP of political vendetta against BRS chief and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, Rama Rao said KCR had brought about an agricultural revolution in Telangana, empowering farmers to the extent of being able to feed the nation.
He asserted that the BRS would defeat the “conspiracies” of the two parties and protect the Kaleshwaram project, which he described as “Telangana’s lifeline.”