HYDERABAD: The Commission of Inquiry on Kaleshwaram asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to furnish the replies given by the then state government to the objections raised by the CAG on Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme.
Nikhil Chakravarthy, senior Deputy Accountant General (DAG), who prepared the CAG report on Kaleshwaram which was tabled in the Assembly in 2024, deposed before the Kaleshwaram Commission, headed by Justice PC Ghose on Thursday.
When the Commission asked whether the CAG report was ‘sacrosanct and correct’, even after the replies provided by the government to the audit objections, Nikhil said “yes”. The Commission then wanted the official to furnish the replies given by the government, to which he said that he would do so by Friday.
Nikhil is currently on deputation to the state government service and is working as a special commissioner in the Commercial Taxes department. The commission chairman read out important paragraphs of the CAG report on Kaleshwaram to which Nikhil said that all those observations were correct.
Nikhil said that the observations were made in accordance with their standards. The performance audit intended to examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the project, as well as propriety. Another senior Deputy Accountant General of the CAG, M Nageswara Reddy, too deposed before the Commission.
Panel’s tips on ‘agility’
Meanwhile, Engineer-in-Chief B Hariram, retired officials of the Irrigation department — C Muralidhar (engineer-in-chief), N Venkateswarlu (former CE of Kaleshwaram) and retired CE of Central Designs Organisation A Narender Reddy — also deposed before the Commission. When Muralidhar’s reply to several questions was that he could not remember, the Commission advised him to read books and count numbers so that it would boost his memory power.
Meanwhile, the Commission asked whether the works were started even before the preparation of the detailed project reports. When the Commission asked why the locations of Annaram and Sundilla barrages were changed, Hariram said that it was to minimise acquisition of forest lands and to reduce the length of the gravity canals.
When asked who took the key decisions regarding works, Muralidhar said it was the decision of the government. When the Commission asked who in the government, Muralidhar said that it was the principal secretary. The Commission expressed its unhappiness over the reply and asked Muralidhar whether he had ever read the Constitution. Muralidhar finally said that it was the then CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, who also held the Irrigation portfolio at that time.