'Head of govt' ordered filling up of barrage: Ex-CE

Hyderabad: Former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s reference yet again figured in the Justice P.C. Ghose Commission of inquiry on Monday, as being responsible for decisions taken on impounding water at the three barrages of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme (KLIS).

Responding to the question from Justice Ghose regarding whose instructions water was impounded at the barrages, former superintending engineer of KLIS N. Venkateswarulu, who went on to become the engineer-in-chief during the BRS regime, replied, “the head of the government.”

Storage of water at the barrages and using the structures as dams has been cited by experts as one of the possible reasons for the stresses on the barrages that eventually resulted in leaks from under the foundations, and the serious damage that occurred at Medigadda barrage.

Venkateswarulu submitted a series of documents on design of the barrages, the shifting of the location of the Annaram barrage, and copies of minutes of meetings pertaining to KLIS and progress of its work to the commission.

To another question on specific problems at Medigadda, if there were failures on the operations and maintenance front that led to sinking of Block 7, Venkateswarulu said what happened may have been the result of poor design. What happened “may be because of non-availability of tail water when gates were operated” and “insufficiency in energy dissipation measures.”

These measures pertained to controlling the speed of water once gates were opened. In the case of the Kaleshwaram barrages, the downstream flood protection measures had failed.

During the ongoing hearing, several engineers acknowledged that the damage to the apron area of the barrages’ blocks, and washing away of heavy cement concrete blocks, were a result of high-speed gushing of river water once the gates were opened. Some irrigation engineers had also alluded to the "head of the government" as the key person to have taken important decision about the project at various stages.

It is learnt that Justice Ghose may have completed inquiries with former and incumbent irrigation engineers involved with KLIS and, in the next phase of his public hearings, may call on bureaucrats from the department, both past and present, associated with the project in various capacities.

Questions of an even more serious nature are expected to be asked once the commission receives the final vigilance and enforcement report into the barrages and their construction, and the final report from the National Dam Safety Authority, it is learnt.