The ruling party benches led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by former minister for irrigation T. Harish Rao were engaged in heated wordy duels on various aspects of the Kaleshwaram Barrages’ execution and P.C. Ghose Commission of Inquiry on them, during a short discussion in the Assembly on Sunday.
Ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Tummala Nageswara Rao and Jupally Krishna Rao too joined the exchanges countering the version of Mr. Harish Rao on the Kaleshwaram Barrages.
The exchanges mainly centred around availability of water at Tummidihatti and Medigadda locations, agreement between Maharashtra and combined Andhra Pradesh on Pranahita-Chevella project, the reasons behind re-engineering and re-designing of projects, including Pranahita-Chevella, the report of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) besides the Justice Ghose Commission report.
Mr. Harish Rao found fault with the functioning of the Ghose Commission of Inquiry stating that it had conducted inquiry with procedural lapses including not serving/giving 8B notices under the Commission of Inquiries Act and doing cross-examination. He alleged that the Congress government had instituted the Commission with a political motive to defame BRS since the Congress party had been finding fault with Kaleshwaram Project including Medigadda from the time when it was in Opposition and much before it was damaged.
The Chief Minister stated that the Ghose Commission had clearly faulted Mr. Harish Rao and former Chief Minister T. Harish Rao for their unilateral decisions on the Kaleshwaram Barrages and explained the reasons behind shifting of the main barrage location from Tummidihatti to Medigadda despite the first location having the hydrology clearance from the Central Water Commission and cited the then Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati’s letter.
However, Mr. Harish Rao said the Chief Minister had read out only select paragraphs of the then Union Minister’s letter and also the CWC letters. The Chief Minister alleged that Mr. Harish Rao was not only misleading the House by speaking false and fabricated information as also the people of the State who have every right to know facts since it was their money that had gone waste through the Kaleshwaram Project.
Mr. Harish Rao said instead of taking up restoration of the damaged piers of the Medigadda Barrage under the experts’ guidance as recommended by the NDSA, the Congress government was using it for settling political scores.
Published – August 31, 2025 10:27 pm IST
