In a stern rebuttal of corruption charges leveled against it, Telangana government wrote back to National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) claiming that its report on Kaleshwaram Project was unsubstantiated and hasty.

Meanwhile, political slug fest between the BJP and BRS over the issue continued with the latter calling the outcry over the largest lift irrigation scheme nothing but an election stunt.

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In a six-page letter to the chairman of the NDSA, the special chief secretary of the Irrigation Department made a paragraph-by-paragraph rebuttal of the conclusions drawn by the authority on the cases of the cracks on the piers of the Medigadda barrage. While most of it dealt with engineering and technical aspects, the government expressed surprise over the inference of the investigative team saying the correct cause can be identified only after proper inspection of the foundation and related structures which are currently under water.

“A coffer dam is under construction by the agency to divert the water and facilitate the thorough inspection of the affected portions of the barrage. Only once this investigative work is completed, we would be able to assess the correct reasons for the sinking of the piers in the barrage. As such at this point of time we are unable to agree to your conclusions,” said Dr Rajat Kumar, Special Chief Secretary of the Irrigation Department of the state government.

The NDSA had suggested a combination of reasons including planning and design, quality control, operation and maintenance for the settlement of the barrage raft. It had also indicated Medigadda barrage may have to be reconstructed and other two barrages may also suffer similar fate because the same design was followed. The irrigation official claimed to have sent all relevant documents sought by NDSA in a short time though the authority had indicated otherwise.

The secretary also pointed out that the Kaleshwaram Project was approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Jal Shakti Ministry on 6 June, 2018 after thoroughly examining all the aspects such as hydrology, costing, irrigation, planning, environmental clearances. The then chairman of Central Water Commission who visited the project even dubbed it as an engineering marvel.

However BJP state president G Kishan Reddy said, “Kaleshwaram has become a tale of wasted public money.”

He went on to claim that the KCR-led BRS government was trying to hide the facts trying to cover up their mistakes. However, state labour minister C Malla Reddy said the uproar over Kaleshwaram project was “election stunts” by the Congress and the BJP since there has been only a small crack in such a big project.

The BRS also claimed the NDSA report was deliberately leaked to the media. The BJP has attacked the chief minister saying he was a “super engineer” who redesigned the Pranahita Chevella project, increased it four times and renamed it as Kaleshwaram.