Investigation into alleged irregularities in the construction of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project (KLIP) will be handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy announced in the Legislative Assembly Monday morning after the Congress-majority House passed a motion in its favour. Speaking in the Assembly, Revanth said the probe was transferred since various agencies of the central and state governments were involved in the project. “Since the central public sector undertakings like WAPCOS (Water and Power Consultancy Service) and financial institutions like PFC (Power Finance Corporation Ltd) and REC [Limited] are involved in the design, construction and execution of the project, the government has decided that the case will be transferred to CBI,” Reddy said, accusing Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders - including former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao - of amassing wealth “at the expense of the people of Telangana”. The KCR government was in power in the state when the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project was commissioned and executed. The decision to transfer the probe was taken after a marathon debate over PC Ghose commission report, which was tabled in the Assembly Sunday. During the debate, Revanth said Kaleshwaram Corporation, set up to oversee the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, had borrowed Rs 85,449 crore. The previous BRS government borrowed Rs 27,738 crore at 11.5 percent interest from PFC, and another Rs 30,536 crore at 12 percent interest. “We have paid Rs 19,878 crore as principal amount for the loans they took so far. Rs 29,956 crore was paid as interest to various banks. A total of Rs 46,835 crore have been paid to banks so far. We still have a burden of Rs 60,869 crore," Revanth Reddy said. PC Ghose commission of inquiry into the planning and execution of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project had held former chief minister of Telangana K Chandrashekar Rao responsible for what it said was “rampant procedural and financial irregularities, lack of proper planning, design flaws, construction defects and a complete absence of effective operation and maintenance”. The one-man commission pointed out that the decision to construct barrages at Medigadda, Annaram and Sudilla was the “sole and individual decision” of KCR and then irrigation minister T Harish Rao. The Kaleshwaram project on the Godavari is the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project. Work completed in 2019, under Telangana’s BRS government. The project sprawls over approximately 500 km in 13 districts, with a canal network of 1,800 km. On October 21, 2023, one of the pillars — No. 20 of block 7 — of the Medigadda Barrage sank, which led to flooding. An NDSA team examined the sunken pillar on October 25, and held an appraisal meeting with L&T, the company executing the project. On February 13, 2024, the Congress-led Telangana government asked the NDSA to carry out a “thorough inspection of the design and construction of the three barrages” of the project. The NDSA visited all the three barrages the following month. On April 29 this year, the state government announced that the NDSA had found a “lack of proper geo-technical investigations, design deficiencies, construction defects, failure of modelling studies, structural distress, absence of robust quality control, operation and maintenance failures, [and that] dam safety aspects [had been] ignored”. Meanwhile, the BRS has slammed the government and the commission and has called the report “politically motivated”. BRS working president K T Ramarao had said that the ruling party suppressed Opposition voices against the PC Ghose commission report in the Assembly. The Kaleshwaram project, he said, is the world's largest lift irrigation project. "We will not allow any attempt to sabotage this project. If necessary, we will take the fight to the people through a mass movement," he said. Meanwhile, BJP MP Eatela Rajender said that the investigation into Kaleshwaram had been "flawed" so far, and that the state government had “done a good job” by transferring the probe to the CBI.
