Telangana Government Says NDSA Acted in Haste, Disputes Findings on Medigadda Barrage
Says NDSA's Claims are "Unsubstantiated" and Made Without a Full Appreciation of the Facts
The state government of Telangana has claimed that the National Dam Safety Authority spoke with them "in haste" and failed to verify information it provided on the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram Project.
In a letter to Sanjay Kumar Sibal, Chairman of the NDSA, on Saturday, Telangana Additional Chief Secretary (Irrigation), Rajat Kumar, stated that the department has carefully reviewed the comments and suggestions and that many of them are "unsubstantiated or made without a full appreciation of the facts."
The Telangana government received a letter on Friday from the NDSA, which had examined the Medigadda barrage, informing it that it had not received all the information it had requested.
The NDSA informed the state administration in a letter that it had discovered serious compromises to the Medigadda barrage, which would leave it completely unusable until it was restored.
The NDSA's research on the causes of the barrage piers sinking is now complete.
With Telangana about to go to polls, the Medigadda barrage conflict has turned into a political issue.
Annexure-1 has copies of the papers added. But in a quick letter responding to the NDSA copy, the Telangana government said, "A thorough indictment of the Kaleshwaram project was communicated to us without checking the details submitted by the SDSO."
"We find it surprising that judgments on the reasons for the Laxmi barrage's failure have been reached without the committee doing any research. The state government said in the letter that "as you are aware, the correct causes can only be determined after proper inspection of the foundation and other related structures which are currently under water."
On June 6, 2018, the Jal Shakti Ministry's Technical Advisory Committee authorized the Kaleshwaram Project after a comprehensive review of all relevant factors, including costing, irrigation planning, environmental clearances, and hydrology, according to the state government.
The letter delivered to the Center said, "In particular, the Costing Directorate of the CWC has extensively studied the design of the barrage with respect to functionality and costing."
From October 23 to October 25, a six-person commission headed by the Member (Disaster & Resilience) of NDSA visited the location to thoroughly investigate the causes of the Medigadda barrage's piers sinking.
The NSDA chairman, Sibal, sent a letter to the Telangana Chief Secretary stating that the barrage is "rendered useless until fully rehabilitated" in its current state.
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