Will not spare those responsible for Meddigadda barrage sinking: Uttam

 Hyderabad: Taking a serious note of lapses at the Medigadda barrage in Mahadevpur mandal of Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said a comprehensive probe would be ordered into an incident of pillars sinking two months ago.

“We will discuss lapses in detail in the Cabinet meeting soon and order a probe after discussing it with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy,” he told mediapersons after completing his first review meeting with officials of the Irrigation and Command Area Development (I&CAD) department at Jal Soudha.

The minister was surprised when officials, during a presentation, said that more than 70,000 acres were stabilised under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).

He said that those responsible for lapses in the Medigadda barrage would not be spared and those involved with the construction and design held accountable.

Uttam Kumar asked officials to furnish the project viability and total amount spent on it, apart from a new ayacut that came under it after its inauguration. The minister said he would visit the Medigadda barrage and Sitarama Lift Irrigation project in the erstwhile Khammam district soon, directing officials to be ready with relevant information.

Underlining the need for complete transparency in constructing the projects using public money, Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the BRS of utmost secrecy concerning irrigation projects and issuing some GOs surreptitiously.

“People strongly believe that something was happening secretly in the department,” he said.

Reddy said the Congress dispensation would leave no stone unturned in protecting the rights of Telangana to get its legitimate share of Krishna water, adding that the government would try to get the national status for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Scheme (PLIS) in erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.

The minister said special focus would be laid on effectively maintaining as many as 40,000 lakes across the state and improving ayacuts under them.

To a question on the ongoing impasse at Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP), he said, “As it happened on the polling day, on November 30, one can understand it.”