A huge crack that developed at the radial gate hoisting area in Medigadda Barrage of the Kaleshwaram project.
Abdication of responsibility and callousness in execution of work by contract agency Larsen & Toubro (L&T) led to the extensive damage to the Medigadda Barrage of the Kaleshwaram project in October last, turning the mega structure into a failure in just four years time, an ongoing inquiry by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department into the fiasco has found.
As the inquiry with the help of engineering experts makes headway towards a logical conclusion, more and more lapses are tumbling out. Irregularities and deviations from the prescribed norms are coming to light in the construction, periodic quality checks, inspection (supervision) and operational maintenance stages.
“The abdication of responsibility in discharging of duties has taken place not just by the work agency but also by the Irrigation Department,” highly-placed sources said.
The investigating teams of the V&E Department have unearthed compliance failures even in basic and routine processes in the execution of a major irrigation structure. “We were shocked to find remnants (cement-concrete blocks) of the coffer dam, put up in the upstream before taking up construction of the barrage to enable smooth execution of the work, in the water-holding area at the barrage near to the vents,” a team member said.
The coffer dam was supposed to be fully dismantled after the construction of the barrage, with the area being thoroughly dredged to remove construction debris in order to ensure smooth flow of water. As it was not dismantled, water flow over the coffer dam picked up a sudden and strong pace, which could also have caused damage to the barrage.
The fact that the coffer dam was not dismantled was proved with an engineer concerned writing letters to the contract agency in February 2020 and again in February 2021 seeking removal of the temporary structure, even as the barrage was inaugurated in June 2019. The agency, it is learnt, replied to the engineer stating that the structure was dismantled, without actually doing so.
It is understood that the investigating agency is taking the help of the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) to establish this fact by obtaining satellite imagery of the coffer dam area before, during and after the construction of the barrage.
Design change
Screening of documents by the investigating agency has further revealed that the design of the cement-concrete blocks meant to be placed in the downstream of the barrage to contain the damage to the basin (water flow) area was changed by the work agency without obtaining approval from the Irrigation Department. “Inquiries revealed that the work agency sought the changes and oral instructions were given by higher-ups during a visit to the site,” sources said.
