The six-member expert team sent by the Centre on Tuesday visited Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project‘s Medigadda (Laxmi) barrage after a few of its pillars sank three days ago.
The team headed by National Dam Safety Authority chairman Anil Jain inspected the barrage in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.
The team was accompanied by KLIP engineer-in-chief N. Venkateshwarlu and officials of L&T which constructed the barrage across Godavari river
Taking a serious note of sinking of a portion of of the barrage, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has sent the committee to examine the reasons for the sinking of the piers of the barrage
The committee held a review meeting with the state government officials in Hyderabad on Monday.
The Ministry has asked the committee to submit a report after inspecting the barrage and interacting with all stakeholders.
The team will assess the damage to the barrage. The experts were examining pillars 15 to 20 of the barrage as they reportedly sank in by a few feet on the night of October 21.
Officials said a portion of the barrage was found sagging at Block 7 of the barrage with a loud noise.
The incident led to temporary closure of the bridge of the barrage across Godavari river that links Telangana with Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
Suspecting sabotage, the project officials complained to local police. The barrage is 1.6 kilometer long and the portion which is partially sunk is only 356 meters from Maharashtra.
The authorities have beefed up security and imposed prohibitory orders to prevent gathering of people.
The KLIP authorities have almost emptied the barrage which had about 10 tmc of water. The stored water was let out by opening about 67 of the total 85 gates of the barrage to facilitate the technical assessment of the exact cause and damage. The inflow is also being continuously discharged.
With a total capacity of 16 TMC, this was the first barrage constructed as part of the prestigious KLIP, touted as the world’s biggest lift irrigation project.
The project engineers have stated that there is no threat to the barrage. They said the repair will be carried out after assessing the damage.
The incident has evoked sharp reaction from opposition Congress and BJP. They blamed the poor design and low quality of work for the incident and demanded resignation of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. They also alleged that the incident proved their allegation of large-scale corruption in the project.