Telangana: State Irrigation Dept dismisses NDSA Report; describes findings as unsubstantiated: Congress seeks CBI probe
Telangana state Irrigation Department has dismissed the National Dam Safety Authority’s (NDSA) report and described its findings as unsubstantiated. Special Chief Secretary in the state Irrigation Department, Rajat Kumar has written a letter to this effect yesterday to the Chairman, NDSA, Sanjay Kumar Sibal.
He said many of the findings in respect of the reported sinking of the piers made by a six-member committee of the NDSA were either unsubstantiated or made without a full appreciation of the facts.
In a point-by-point reply to the NDSA report, the Special Chief Secretary said sending the report to the state government in a hasty manner was an indictment of the Kaleswram Project.
He further said, the report was prepared without any investigative work and without checking the details submitted by the State Dam Safety Organisation (SDSO) and the State could not agree with the remarks.
Congress seeks CBI probe
The Telangana Congress vice president wrote to President Droupadi Murmi seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged damage to the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleswaram project.
Telangana Congress senior vice-president G Niranjan wrote to President Droupadi Murmu on Friday, demanding an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the damage to Medigadda barrage of the Kaleswaram project.
After reports that cracks had developed in the pillars of the barrage, a team from the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) visited the site. It said the Medigadda Barrage has been severely compromised, rendering it useless unless fully rehabilitated.
Citing the NDSA findings, the Congress party told the President that there was a “lack of stringent quality control” during its construction and that “maintenance deficiencies” had progressively weakened the dam barrage.
It added that the Annaram and Sundilla barrages, which were constructed upstream of Medigadda have similar design and construction methodologies, making them prone to similar failures. Reports have already emerged of water seepage at the Annaram barrage, said the Congress.
