Medigadda Not Safe: Central Officer

Hyderabad: The BRS’ claims that the Medigadda and Annaram barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) can still be used to pump water, as well as its stand that it had received permissions from the Central Water Commission for the project, were carpet-bombed on Thursday.

Taking apart the BRS’ assertions, Sriram Vedire, adviser to the Union jal shakti minister and chairman of the task force on interlinking of rivers, told a press conference that storing any water at any of the Kaleshwaram barrages would be a recipe for disaster.

Vedire’s takedown came on the eve of the show that BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao planned at Medigadda for Friday.

Vedire also said the CWC never gave permissions for KLIS, something the BRS claims it received. He said that the BRS was lying when it claimed that the CWC had stated that not enough water was available at Tummidihatti, where the then Congress government had planned the Pranahita-Chevella project.

The BRS government moved the project to Medigadda.

On the demand to store water at Medigadda and pump it to upstream Annaram barrage, Vedire said before doing anything of this sort, geotechnical studies were a must to understand exactly what the barrages were built on. “Have they been built on sand, rock, limestone, clay or something else?” he said.

Part of Medigadda was built like a floating structure on sand. Where they hit a rock, they built those sections like rigid structures with piles driven into the rock. “This has resulted in different strength characters across the barrage, making it weak in some places,” he said.

“Storing water, especially in the wake of what happened at Medigadda, and the springing of serious leaks at Annaram, will be inviting disaster. The BRS’ demand may make good politics for it, but will not be good for the barrages and can cause severe losses to the people and the state,” he said.

HIGHLIGHTS

Sriram Vedire debunks BRS’ KLIS claims

CWC never said enough water was not available at Tummidihatti on the Pranahita River.

The BRS government claimed 67 tmc ft water was available, the CWC said it was 165 tmc ft.

Moving project from Tummidihatti to Medigadda led to project cost going up from `40,000 crore to `1.2 lakh crore.

CWC never approved KLIS designs. When a state has its own Central Design Organisation, as Telangana does, CWC does not look into designs.

CWC did not give investment clearance as BRS government never answered its queries.

Contrary to BRS’ claims, CWC never approved proposal to lift additional 1 tmc ft water from KLIS.

Godavari River Management Board also notified that the lifting of third tmc ft was not approved.

CWC found BRS government’s justifications unsatisfactory, `30,000 crore additional cost not justified.

Aware that not providing information that NDSA sought is punishable, BRS government did not provide all records on Medigadda.

River water sharing at 299 tmc ft for Telangana and 512 tmc ft by AP was not adjudicated by KRMB, or Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, but reached upon by the two states.