BRS president and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday appeared as the 115th witness before the judicial commission probing the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project.
The irrigation project was built during the previous BRS regime.
The damage to the barrages of the Kaleshwaram project became a key issue during the 2023 assembly elections in the state.
Rao reached the commission's office a little after 11 AM. Police made elaborate security arrangements.
The former CM's requested, much to the surprise of many, to have a one-on-one in-camera cross examination as he was unwell. The Commission chairman and retired Supreme Court Judge PC Ghose obliged and barred the entry of media.
The Commission, constituted in March, 2014 to probe the irregularities in the construction of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, has so far cross examined 114 witnesses in an open court.
Several BRS leaders and workers assembled at the BRS Bhavan here, in view of KCR's appearance, where the commission's office is located.
Rao becomes the first former chief minister from Telangana and the second from undivided Andhra Pradesh after N Chandrababu Naidu to depose before such a commission.
Government sources stated that the Commission may 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.
The commission has questioned a number of engineers and other officials, especially of the irrigation department, in the last about one year since its probe began.
KCR's nephew and BRS MLA T Harish Rao, who was irrigation minister in the BRS government, appeared before the panel on June 9.
Before him, BJP MP Lok Sabha Eatala Rajender, who was finance minister in the BRS government, was questioned by the commission on June 6.
According to government sources, Rajender had told the Commission that the Cabinet sub-committee had placed the Kaleshwaram proposal before the Cabinet, which subsequently approved it.
On Tuesday, Harish Rao met KCR at the latter’s farmhouse in Erravalli for a second straight day. 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.
Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy recently said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has labelled the Kaleshwaram project, built at a cost of over Rs one lakh crore, to be "probably" the biggest man-made disaster in the country.
Referring to the ruling Congress's criticism about some piers of the Medigadda barrage of the 'sinking' in 2023, Harish said the Kaleshwaram project comprises many other parts and that they are all intact.
