Poor Planning Led to Kaleshwaram's ₹1 Lakh Crore Collapse: Centre
A central committee is currently investigating the collapse.
HYDERABAD: Union jal shakti minister C.R. Patil stated that over ₹1 lakh crore has been lost in the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme (KLIS) due to poor planning and design defects, which he identified as the primary reasons for its failure. He noted that the Centre had not received any proposal from the Telangana government regarding this project in the last three years.
Replying to a question from BRS MP K.R. Suresh Reddy, party floor leader in Parliament, in the Rajya Sabha — who urged the Centre to declare KLIS a national project and allocate funds under the PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana —Patil pointed out that the then state government sought the Centre's permission only after spending over ₹30,000 crore on the project. Patil attributed the failure of the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages to defects in planning and design, citing the report submitted by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA). A Central team was studying the project's defects, he added.
On Congress MP Anil Kumar Yadav's demand for a CBI probe into the KLIS project irregularities, the Union minister accused the Telangana government of careless handling of Jal Jeevan Mission funds, noting that it had submitted no proposals in the last three years.
To a related question by BJP MP Dr K. Laxman, Patil said that Telangana received ₹981 crore under the PM Krishi Sanchayi Yojana (PMKSY) for irrigation projects. In a detailed statement, the Union minister revealed that 99 ongoing major and medium irrigation projects (including seven phases) nationwide were included under PMKSY in 2016-17 to boost water access, assured irrigation, and water conservation. Of these, 11 projects from Telangana qualified under PMKSY-AIBP with Central assistance of ₹1,129.80 crore of which ₹981.49 crore has been released. No eligible proposals for Central assistance were received from the Telangana government in the last three years.
Under the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ (PDMC) component, which focused on micro-irrigation like drip and sprinkler systems, Telangana received `873.95 crore since inception, including ₹194.63 crore in the last three years. The PDMC was implemented under PMKSY until March 2022 and is now part of PM-Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
