Telangana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy has demanded that a Supreme Court Judge should investigate the leakage in the piers of the Medigadda Barrage.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday in wake of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report, Mr. Reddy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally inspect the Barrage during his next visit to Telangana to understand the situation first hand.
Accusing Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and his family of amassing wealth, he alleged that in the two term, the BRS government has been focussing on redesigning Congress-proposed projects, rather than fulfilling his promises. He said, KCR government had changed the Pranahita Chevella project into Kaleshwaram, which deviated from the original engineering plans.
The recent situation at the Medigadda barrage within the Kaleshwaram project highlights that it was not constructed as per the original plans, leading to the sinking and damage of the barrage.
He faulted the government for claiming that the project’s damage as a minor issue. Under the guise of redesigning, KCR inflated the estimated cost of Kaleshwaram from ₹38,500 crore to ₹1 lakh crore. However, despite this substantial investment, the project wasn’t constructed with adequate quality, resulting in corruption and damage, he lamented.
“Rather than addressing the issue, KTR and his party are criticizing me and Rahul Gandhi for visiting Medigadda. The National Dam Safety Authority has officially stated that the entire project could be damaged, necessitating complete demolition and reconstruction,” he said.
While BRS claims that contractor L&T is responsible for repairing the project for five years after construction, the warranty period will have lapsed within six months. The State government has not responded to the dam safety inspections.
The Central government released a report but has taken no action has been taken against KCR, he pointed out.
