Air of gloom hangs over Medigadda

Medigadda: The hot afternoon sun reflecting waves of heat from the carriageway on Medigadda on Tuesday, and the equally hot sand banks of the Godavari river bed, in some ways mirrored the intensity of the problem at the barrage, the lynchpin of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme (KLIS).

Even as officials made elaborate arrangements for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's visit and his holding a review on the scheme in general and Medigadda barrage in particular, barely 100 metres from where he spoke was the now abandoned 'homagundam' where then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had prayed before he inaugurated the barrage, and KLIS, on June 21, 2023.

Also nearby is an under-construction guest house where work has been stopped. On Tuesday, cops parked their cars in its shade to save themselves from the heat of the day.

Equally forlorn was the river itself though there were a few vigorous streams of the Godavari rushing to the barrage and the water was being let out as it flowed. Before disaster struck and part of the barrage was given away on October 21, 2023, the BRS government had used the barrage like a dam, impounding huge quantities of water that ultimately did the structure.

Water was being pumped out between piers 19 and 22 for the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues and accompanying MLAs to have a closer look at the cracks, and the subsidence of Block 7 of the barrage.