Hyderabad: A detailed report by the vigilance and enforcement (V&E) department has uncovered what it termed a “major financial conspiracy” in the construction of the Medigadda barrage, which is part of the state’s ambitious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.The report covers construction activities from April 2015 to Oct 2023 and alleges a series of ‘intentional’ violations, procedural lapses, and unauthorised financial decisions. Senior officials in the irrigation and command area development (I&CAD), and finance departments are accused of colluding to push through flawed approvals and irregular payments, resulting in serious structural failures and significant losses to the public exchequer.The V&E report listed 18 major lapses, highlighting how assurances made during chief minister-level review meetings were misused to justify estimate revisions, design changes, and unapproved payments.A key example is a CM-level meeting held on Dec 9, 2017. Though its instructions were recorded and circulated by the principal secretary of I&CAD, the department failed to verify or adhere to these directions while processing revised estimates (RE), the report alleged.Both the I&CAD and finance departments were found to have negligently circulated and approved files related to RE-I and RE-II without proper scrutiny, leading to major financial implications. According to the report, these deviations were deliberate and not accidental.Project officials used govt approvals to push contractor-favourable proposals, benefiting the contractor, L&T-PES (Private Limited and Engineering) JV, the report alleged and said these were fast-tracked without evaluation, opening the door for misappropriation of public funds.Engineering violationsAt the project execution level, the report alleged serious breaches of standard engineering protocols. Initial investigations and surveys failed to meet standards set by the Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP). Foundational designs were reportedly compromised due to the use of incomplete geo-technical data, which field engineers and the chief design officer alleged to have accepted without question.A major concern was the construction of secant piles, critical for the barrage’s stability. According to L&T’s own construction protocol, secondary piles should be placed within 1-2 days of primary ones. However, this was delayed by up to 45 days, and the quality control team had failed to intervene. The superintending engineer allowed the work to continue without verifying the agency’s qualifications, the report alleged.Another serious lapse was the removal of cofferdams and sheet piles—a task contractually assigned to the contractor. Instead of ensuring this was completed, officials included a post-facto ₹61.2 crore provision for cofferdam works in RE-II, after the barrage had already been inaugurated. This move enabled illegal payments, the report said.Cofferdams were also not dismantled to pre-construction levels, disturbing the natural flow of the Godavari river and putting the barrage at further risk. The report categorised this as criminal negligence requiring legal action.Further negligence was noted in the failure to remove overburden upstream of the barrage, despite warnings from 2D and 3D model studies by the Telangana State Engineering Research Laboratories (TSERL). This oversight changed the river’s flow dynamics and contributed to structural damage downstream, the report highlighted.Undue financial advantageSome of these violations not only reflect administrative failure but also suggest deliberate attempts to extend undue financial advantages to the contractor at the state’s expense, the report alleged.The V&E department concluded that the missteps taken from the start of the redesign in April 2015 to the barrage’s structural failure on Oct 21, 2023, reflected a pattern of deliberate negligence, policy breaches, and financial misconduct.The report also called for strong disciplinary and legal action against the principal secretaries of the I&CAD and finance departments, chief engineer, and all subordinate officials involved throughout the project’s planning, approval, and execution phases.Can go as gfx or boxAlleged violation of financial sanctionsHyderabad: The V&E report highlighted a pattern of financial violations that reportedly harmed the state’s interests in the execution of the mega project. Some of the points raised by the department include:Retention bank guarantees were released prematurely to the contractor, before project completion. This deprived the state of a financial safeguard and caused a direct loss of ₹22.9 crore in interest.The chief engineer violated a GO (dated Feb 20, 2016) by unilaterally approving deviations of up to 15% without informing the govt.A completion certificate was issued for ₹3,348 crore, even though ₹238 crore worth of work remained incomplete.An additional ₹367 crore was paid for new or excess items beyond RE-I, without any formal govt approval.A total of ₹259 crore was approved above RE-I’s sanctioned ₹2,933 crore, also without proper permission.These payments were processed even before RE-II had been formally sanctioned.A ₹39 crore claim was made under the pretext of excess dewatering.
