KTR Stresses National Importance of Medigadda Barrage

Hyderabad: IT minister and BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday said the Medigadda barrage and the whole of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme was a national asset and should not be belittled.

Answering a question at a meet-the-press event on the sinking of some of the Medigadda barrage piers, Rama Rao said the final report of the dam safety expert committee was awaited and any rectification would be taken up at its cost by the contracted agency that built the barrage.

The barrage has been in operation for five years, it withstood historic 28 lakh cusecs of flood last year, he said. Just as they jumped the gun when two of the pumphouses were submerged in the floods, the opposition parties are doing the same again this time. Just as the construction agency repaired the pump houses at its cost, the same will happen in case of Medigadda without any burden on the state’s exchequer, Rama Rao explained.

He added that while he had not spoken to irrigation department officials, there appeared to be some technical issue and there was even a prospect of sabotage. On the Congress calling the scheme a white elephant, Rama Rao hit back saying. “The real white elephant in the Congress. After independence, Mahatma Gandhi said Congress should be disbanded and it is unfortunate that it still exists. ”