HYDERABAD: The Ministry of Jal Shakti has constituted a Technical Expert Group (TEG) comprising experts from CWC, CSMRS, CWPRS, GSI and the Project Authorities to provide technical guidance and advice on appropriate remedial measures for the rehabilitation of the plunge pool of the Srisailam project.
It may be recalled that officials of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) visited the dam site on April 29, 2025 and inspected the plunge pool, after Telangana Irrigation officials raised serious concerns about the safety of the project.
Subsequently, the engineer-in-chief (Irrigation) of Andhra Pradesh expressed willingness for constitution of an expert group by the Central Water Commission (CWC) for providing technical support for implementing long-term rehabilitation measures for the plunge pool.
As the rehabilitation work involved would be interdisciplinary in nature, the ministry, through a letter on Tuesday, informed AP and Telangana about the constitution of an expert group.
The composition of the Technical Expert Group (TEG) is as follows: The Chairperson is Vivek Tripathi, Chief Engineer, Designs (N&W), Central Water Commission (CWC). The members of the committee are Somesh Kumar, Director, Embankment (N&W) Directorate; Samarth Agarwal, Director, CMDD (N&W) Directorate (Member Secretary); Arun Pratap Singh, Deputy Director, CMDD (NW&S) Directorate; and Madhukant Goyal, Deputy Director, CMDD (E&NE) Directorate. All are from the Central Water Commission.
The nominated members from the Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS), Delhi, and Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, are Manish Gupta, Scientist ‘E’ and MK Verma, Scientist ‘D’, respectively.
The member from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) is Shailendra Singh, Director, Engineering Geology Division, Southern Region.
The member from the Srisailam Project Authorities (WRD, Andhra Pradesh) is the Chief Engineer (Projects), Kurnool, Water Resources Department.
The responsibilities of the project authorities include facilitating site visits, providing all relevant data and documents, supporting logistics for TEG meetings, coordination among agencies, and other related activities.
The broad scope of work to be undertaken shall include a detailed technical review of the plunge pool condition and damage assessment; studying relevant case studies of similar issues with EDA structures around the world to derive lessons learned and applicable best practices; advising on investigations, modelling (physical and numerical), and analyses required; and recommending suitable rehabilitation measures based on multidisciplinary inputs.
The work also includes the preparation of a comprehensive report with designs, drawings, and an implementation plan, and providing continuous technical advisory support during execution, as required.
Representatives from Telangana and the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) will also be included in the Technical Expert Group (TEG).