The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has sent an expert committee to Telangana to conduct a probe on the sinking of a portion of the Medigadda (Laxmi) barrage of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP).

National Dam Safety Authority chairman Anil Jain is heading the six-member committee, which will hold a review meeting with state officials in Hyderabad later in the day. The panel will subsequently visit the barrage in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.

The Union Ministry has asked the committee to submit a report after inspecting the Barrage and interacting with all stakeholders. According to the order of the Ministry, pillars numbering 15 to 20 of the sixth to eighth blocks of the barrage caved in on the night of October 21 after pillar number 20 of Block 7 of the barrage had partially sunk.

Also Read: Water released from Medigadda barrage and Musi project

As per para 8 of Schedule-II of the Dam Safety Act, 2021, a committee is constituted to examine the reasons for the sinking of the piers of the barrage, says the order. The team has been directed to interact with the officials concerned of the state government and the agency involved in the construction of the barrage.

The incident led to the temporary closure of the bridge of the barrage across the Godavari river that links Telangana with Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. Suspecting sabotage, project officials complained to local police.

The barrage is 1.6 km long and the portion which partially sunk is only 356 meters from Maharashtra. The KLIP authorities have started letting out stored water by opening about 22 of the total 85 gates of the barrage to facilitate the technical assessment of the exact cause and damage.

The project engineers, however, said that there was no threat to the barrage. The repair will be carried out after assessing the damage. The incident has evoked a sharp reaction from the opposition Congress and BJP.

They blamed poor design and low quality of work for the incident and asked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to own up the responsibility. The Congress has demanded an inquiry by a sitting judge.

(This story is sourced from a third-party syndicated feed. Raavi Media takes no responsibility or liability of any nature. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com can alter or delete the content without notice for any reason.)