Hyderabad:Former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao on Monday informed the P.C. Ghose commission of inquiry that the then political leadership had no role to play in the technical decisions related to the Kaleshwaram barrages or their operations and that the decisions were made by engineers.He also said that the scope of a Cabinet subc-ommittee set up for the project had discussed the report submitted by Wapcos, a public sector consulting agency, following which the proposals were okayed, and the project report was subsequently approved by the Cabinet.“A perception that is being sought to spread that the decision to change barrage location from Tummidihatti to Medigadda was political. This was not the case and the decision was based on reports submitted by Wapcos, the Central Water Commission, and a high-powered committee,” Harish Rao informed the commission.Harish Rao also said he was submitting documentary evidence to the commission supporting his responses.He explained that Wapcos, which had prepared the report from the Pranahita-Chevella project conceived by the then Congress government, was asked to study a different location as the Maharashtra government had made it clear that it would not agree to a barrage at Tummidihatti. At the level it was willing to agree, there would just be 44 tmc ft of usable water, much less than the needed 160 tmc ft. Wapcos studied and suggested that a barrage be built at Medigadda, he said.He also said that both Wapcos, and a committee of retired engineers were asked to study if water could be pumped directly from Medigadda to Mid-Manair reservoir but this was found to be not feasible by both. The government then followed the proposal for constructing a barrage each at Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla.The entire project had seven links, and only one link — that of the barrages — was changed. Even the CWC said more reservoir capacity was required as the Pranahita-Chevella project plans were found inadequate to store the required amount of water for irrigation, drinking water and industrial uses, he added.The commission had been inquiring into lapses that resulted in damage to the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme. To Justice Ghose’s pointed questions on storage of water at the barrages, change of location of the ones at Annaram and Sundilla, Harish Rao made it clear that decisions on these aspects were technical in nature and the political leadership had no role to play in it.When Justice Ghose asked questions on how much water was stored at the barrages, who took a decision on this aspect, Harish Rao replied, “engineers have to decide (on such issues). How can we decide?”To a question on the shifting of locations of the Annaram and Sundilla barrages from originally proposed sites after a high-powered committee recommended the same, Harish Rao said “we are not engineers. This was a technical decision by the engineers,” and added that the government acted as per the recommendations of the HPC and the engineers.Some decisions such as these, as well as construction of flood banks were taken based on engineers’ recommendations based on site conditions, Harish Rao said.On whether the repayment of loans and interest taken by the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited were approved by the government, Harish Rao said the income generated by the corporation by way of charges for water supplied by it was to be used to repay the loans. He made it clear the government stood guarantee for the loans. Though there were discussions in the government on this, the Cabinet did not discuss the same.InfographHarish Rao before Justice PC Ghose commission of inquiry.Project taken up at Medigadda based on recommendation of Wapcos, CWC, technical experts.Tumidihatti barrage not possible as not enough water could be stored, rejection from Maharashtra government as per specifications needed by Telangana.Setting up of Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited for raising funds had all necessary approvals.Decisions were not political as is being claimed by some, every decision based on engineers and technical experts recommendations..
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