Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao arrived at the BRKR Bhavan on Monday, June 9 to appear before the PC Ghose Commission in connection with the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project case.
Addressing the media after being questioned for around 40 minutes by the commission, Harish Rao said that he has furnished all the documents before the commission as evidence pertaining to the project.
Firstly, Harish Rao said the commission asked him about the project’s design change from Tummidihatti to Medigadda, for which he replied saying the decision was taken after the Central Water Commission (CWC) had written to the state government, stating that there was not enough water availability at Tummidihatti.
In view of that, Harish Rao said former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked WAPCOS, a central government agency, to conduct the survey and suggest the location to build the project.
He said the decision was driven by the logjam between the then undivided Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra governments on building the project at Tummidihatti.
He said that the Congress government led by Prithviraj Chavan in Maharashtra had written to the then chief minister of undivided AP N Kiran Kumar Reddy, making it clear that they were not going to allow building the Pranahitha-Chevella (Kaleshwaram Project) at a height of 152 metre.
For seven years, Rao said that the Congress government in AP failed to either get permissions, or acquire any land for the project, and that they started building the project from its tail (canals) instead of focusing on building from the source.
“After the formation of Telangana and our government, we did request the then irrigation minister of Maharashtra Hasan Mushrif to allow us to construct the project, but he refused to yield, as it would submerge several villages in Maharashtra. After the BJP came to power in Maharashtra, BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao himself went there and urged the then governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Maharashtra chief minister informed us that it was he who had led the movement against the project for 7 years during the Congress’ reign, and that it wasn’t possible for him to allow construction of the project at that height,” Harish Rao said.
He said that despite Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and N Uttam Kumar Reddy being ministers representing the Congress government in the undivided AP, they failed to convince the Congress governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre for seven long years.
“Obtaining environmental clearances for building the project at Tummidihatti, as it involved bringing Chapral Wild Life Sanctuary under submergence, would have led us to fight the cases in court for a decade. While the Congress wanted to build the project where there was no water availability, BRS proposed to built it where there was availability of water,” he said.
Harish Rao also said that it was the CWC which had advised Telangana to increase the storage capacity of the reservoirs under the Pranahitha-Chevella project.
On the question raised by the commission, on whether the government had permissions to setup Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited, Harish Rao said that he has submitted all permissions and related government orders to the commission.
On why the location of Annaram and Sundilla barrages was changed, Harish Rao told the commission that the decision was taken based on the detailed survey and the opinions of the engineers of the irrigation department.
Pointing out that there were several projects in the country whose designs have been changed, Harish Rao said he submitted evidences of those projects to the commission.
Harish Rao noted that Kaleshwaram Project comprised 3 barrages, 15 reservoirs, 19 sub-stations, 21 pump houses, tunnels extending to 203 km, gravity canals extending to 1,531 km, 98 km long pressure mains, 141 TMC storage capacity, lifting water up to a height of 530 metre, and water consumption of 240 TMC.
Except the sinking of two piers at Medigadda barrage, Harish Rao said that the rest of the structures of the project were all intact.
“The present chief minister has laid foundation stone for Gandhamalla lift irrigation scheme for which Mallannasagar reservoir is the source. He is planning to fill the Musi River with Godavari water from Mallannasagar. He wants to supply drinking water to Hyderabad from Mallannasagar. Is Mallannasagar not part of Kaleshwaram Project? How can he spread misinformation about the project becoming defunct,” he asked.
Harish Rao was confident that the people of Telangana have understood that Kaleshwaram will ultimately be the lifeline of the state.
Before leaving to BRKR Bhavan to depose before the commission, Rao addressed the media and said, “We are not in power now, but we will provide all available information to the commission.” The former irrigation and finance minister of Telangana further said that he was fully prepared to answer all the questions posed by the commission.
“The BRS party has immense faith in the judiciary, the law, and the Constitution. That’s why we are appearing before the commission,” he concluded.
On Friday, former minister of Telangana and BJP MP Eatala Rajender appeared before the Ghose Commission in connection with the Kaleshwaram Irrigation project scam. The Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose, is probing the alleged irregularities in planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla Barrages of the Kaleshwaram project.
The one-man Commission was constituted in March 2024, a few months after some piers of the Medigadda Barrage caved in. The term of the Commission has been extended repeatedly for seven times so far after its initial term ended on June 30, 2024.
The article has been updated with latest information
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