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New Indian Express
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Kaleshwaram project row: If found guilty, no one will be spared, warns Revenue Min Ponguleti
MULUGU: Dismissing the claims of political vendetta behind the ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities in the execution of the Kaleshwaram project, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy on Wednesday said that once the PC Ghose Commission submits its report, those involved will have to 'face the consequences for their misdeeds.' Speaking to the media in Mulugu, the minister said: 'There is no question of any political revenge in this issue. The Central commission is conducting the inquiry. After the Commission submits its report, the culprits will have to face the consequences. No matter who they are and what their status is, they will not be spared.' 'The previous BRS regime had projected the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme as the eighth wonder of the world. The Kalvakuntla family looted the state while pillars of the project caved in during the BRS regime itself,' he added. 'KCR, the self-declared 'father of Telangana', deposed before the PC Ghose Commission. None of the people who were involved in this scam will be excluded from this inquiry,' he further said. Stating that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy protected the Kaleshwaram project by taking up temporary repair works, he said: 'The flaws in the project design, defects in its execution and damage caused to its various components will be revealed once the Commission of Inquiry submits its report. Then the courts will deal with it as per law.' 'The Congress government will neither spare those responsible for Kaleshwaram scam nor those involved in phone-tapping, land-grabbing, and Mission Bhagiratha scams,' he added. Earlier, Srinivas Reddy, along with Panchayati Raj & Rural Development Minister Danasari Anasuya alias Seethakka and MP P Balaram Naik, distributed sanction letters for Indiramma Housing Scheme beneficiaries at Incherla village in Mulugu district. They also laid the foundation stone for the construction of houses in the Indiramma Colony of the village. Stating that the government had sanctioned 4.5 lakh Indiramma houses in the first phase across the state, he said that the highest allocation of 5,000 houses was made in the Mulugu Assembly constituency. Later in the day, Srinivasa Reddy and Seethakka took part in the Bhu Bharathi Revenue Sadassulu programme at Govindaraopet village and interacted with the applicants.
NDTV
11-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Exotic Wedding, 19 Plots, Villa, 3 Buildings: Telangana Engineer Booked For Corruption
Hyderabad: A destination wedding in Thailand for his son, on which crores were reportedly spent, a villa, three independent buildings, 19 prime residential plots, at least four flats, and stakes in multiple hotels - this lifestyle and assets may seem like they belong to a very wealthy businessman, but they are allegedly of an executive engineer in the irrigation department in Telangana. The Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday raided 13 locations linked to Executive Engineer Nune Sridhar and discovered assets that are disproportionate to his known sources of income. The list included a 4,500 square foot flat in a luxury residential complex called Sky High in Hyderabad's Shaikpet, besides at least three other flats in Karimnagar. Officials said Mr Sridhar also owns a villa in Tellapur near Hyderabad, at least three independent buildings in Warangal, Karimanagar and Hyderabad, 19 prime residential plots in the three cities, 16 acres of agricultural land, and stakes in multiple hotels in Karimnagar, worth several crores, besides cash, jewellery and bank deposits. Mr Sridhar also said to have organised a destination wedding for his son in Thailand, spending crores on all the arrangements. The executive engineer, sources said, was also involved in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project - the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project - which has been mired in corruption allegations. Former Telangana chief minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekar Rao has also been summoned by the PC Ghose Commission, which is probing alleged irregularities in the project. The corruption allegations surrounding the project had become a major issue in the 2023 Assembly elections in the state and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi has rubbished all the charges, insisting that it was planned and constructed for the welfare of the people of Telangana. Officials from the Anti-Corruption Bureau said a disproportionate assets (DA) Case has been registered against Mr Sridhar. "Financial documents, property papers, and transaction records are being examined for links to potential benami holdings and corruption in irrigation contracts," said an official. More Action Another report has recommended criminal proceedings in the Medigadda Barrage Case. The barrage is a key part of the Kaleshwaram project and had suffered damage, with several of its piers collapsing, in 2023. The Telangana Vigilance Commission has recommended that the Irrigation and Command Area Development (I&CAD) Department initiate criminal proceedings against senior engineers and the construction agency responsible for the barrage. The report, submitted by the Director General, Vigilance and Enforcement (DG, V&E), Hyderabad, has found serious lapses in execution, resulting in the sinking of Block No 7 of the barrage and a substantial financial loss to the state. The Vigilance Commission has advised that criminal cases be registered under sections pf the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the Dam Safety Act, 2021, and the Public Demands Recovery Act, 1984. The Commission's directive includes initiating action against 17 officers, including the former Engineer-in-Chief, Cheeti Muralidhar, and officials of the contracting agency, L&T-PES (JV), for faulty execution and procedural violations that led to the structural failure. The agency is accused of improperly executing secant piles and violating their own method statement, causing piping action beneath the raft and eventual cavity formation. The Commission has further instructed that recovery proceedings be initiated to reclaim the cost incurred for the replacement of the damaged block, and action be taken against the contractor for claiming completion certificates without fulfilling the required terms of the supplemental agreements.
NDTV
11-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Tech Calls On Kaleshwaram Project Taken By Engineers, KCR told Panel: Sources
Former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao testified before the PC Ghose Commission, stating he approved the Kaleshwaram irrigation project but left technical decisions to engineers. He defended the project's decisions and described its financial transparency. New Delhi: The self-declared architect of the world's biggest lift irrigation project Kaleshwaram, former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has told the PC Ghose Commission of Inquiry that while he envisioned the project and gave overall approval, all technical decisions were taken by engineers, sources said. KCR, as he is popularly known, is said to have told the one-man commission of former Supreme Court judge, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, that he would not like to be examined in public. So only Justice PC Ghose and Commission secretary Muralidhar were present when he answered questions put to him by the Commission. Even as thousands of Bharat Rashtra Samithi workers and leaders stood outside to express support, KCR's convoy drove in at 11 am and he left at 1 pm. Nine leaders were given permission to accompany him inside. They included former irrigation minister Harish Rao, who faced questioning by the Commission on June 9, and had brief KCR, over the last two days. Sources said 18 questions were posed to KCR and the entire process is said to have taken 50 minutes. He was reportedly asked who took the decision to build the project, to which the former Chief Minister reportedly said the political leadership did. He in fact said all decisions were taken by the cabinet and minutes of meetings were available for the same. KCR was asked about who took the decision for redesigning and re-engineering of the barrages, also about changing the location, how much water should be stored and for how long, to all of which KCR is said to have answered that based on expert and technical reports, the engineers had taken the decisions. He is said to have mentioned that as many as 4,000 engineers had worked to make the project a reality. The former Chief Minister reportedly mentioned recommendations of a PSU called WAPCOS, the Central Water Commission reports on availability of water at different points, repeated denial of permission by Maharashtra for locating the first barrage at Tummidi Hatti, forcing the shift to Medigadda and so on. The former Chief Minister is also reported to have been asked about why a corporation was set up. He said it was done to raise financial resources and bring transparency. KCR reportedly shared documents, including a booklet on "Kaleshwaram: the Lifeline of Telangana" -- a copy of GO45 on allocation of responsibilities and an operations and maintenance manual. The BRS has maintained that the inquiry ordered into the planning, design, construction, quality control, execution, operations and management of Kaleshwaram, is politically motivated. "There is no death, no breakdown. Only two of 300 pillars developed cracks and the government is reacting as though a major disaster happened in Telangana as though the entire project collapsed, whereas both the Congress and the NDSA have turned a blind eye to real disasters elsewhere," BRS working president KT Rama Rao told NDTV. BRS MLC and KCR's daughter Kavitha had also said she would be at BRK Bhavan as support to KCR as he deposed before the commission. Though Ms Kavitha was seen in visuals at KCR's farmhouse this morning as he was leaving to appear before the Commission, she instead went to visit BRS leader Palle Rajeshwar who had an accidental fall and was admitted to hospital this morning.
New Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Engineers built KLIS on Cabinet nod: Former Irrigation minister T Harish Rao
HYDERABAD: Former Irrigation minister T Harish Rao on Monday told the PC Ghose Commission that although the Cabinet cleared the proposal to construct the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, the technical matters were handled by the engineers and political leaders had nothing to do with them. Deposing before the Commission of Inquiry on Kaleshwaram, headed by former Supreme Court judge PC Ghose, Harish explicitly explained the chronological events that led to the change of source from Tummadihatti to Medigadda. During his 45-minute cross-examination, Harish, who served as Irrigation minister from June 2014 to November 2018, said that the decision to change the source from Tummadihatti to Medigadda barrage was taken after the Maharashtra government raised certain objections, due to the lack of water availability and also following the reports of the Central Water Commission. Documents provided Harish provided all the documents to the Commission in support of his claims. Besides, he read out the affidavit filed by the retired engineers and said that they too observed that water was not available at Tummadihatti in Godavari. Harish said that the BRS government decided to re-engineer the existing project and as part of it, Kaleshwaram was constructed. 'Though the Congress government conceived Pranahita-Chevella, there was no inter-state agreement with Maharashtra on water sharing. The Congress government started canal works without getting permission for head works ,' Harish told the panel.
The Hindu
07-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Tummala terms Eatala Rajender's remarks on Kaleshwaram as ‘motivated and misleading'
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao strongly refuted the comments of BJP MP and his former colleague in the BRS government, Eatala Rajender, before the PC Ghose Commission on the Kaleshwaram project that alleged his role in the clearance of the project. 'Eatala's comments on me are completely false, and one wonders whether they were made under external pressure,' the Minister remarked at a press conference here on Saturday while questioning the motives behind them. Mr. Tummala clarified that the sub-committee he had referenced was not related to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project but to look into other pending projects under the broader umbrella of irrigation, such as Devadula, Kantanapalli, and Dummugudem. 'It was never constituted specifically for Kaleshwaram project,' he explained. The Minister also revealed that the Kaleshwaram project never received formal Cabinet approval. The KCR Cabinet did not deliberate or come forward with a decision on the project. The works were executed merely based on an executive order, he argued. The Minister announced that he would submit the sub-committee report related to irrigation projects to the Kaleshwaram Commission suo motu, and would fully cooperate with the panel. 'At the appropriate time, I will tell the Commission what really happened with the Kaleshwaram project,' he said. He further said, 'My suggestions at that time were always in the interest of the people and farmers.' He said he is ready for a transparent discussion with anyone, but misleading the people with false statements is not acceptable.
