Kcr fires on Irrigation Department officials

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday directed Irrigation Department officials to expedite construction works of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and complete the Medigadda barrage by the end of March. He wanted supply of Godavari water for irrigation from June under any circumstances and lifting of water to Mid Manair dam from next monsoon.

The Chief Minister was keen on completing the coffer dam works in Godavari River and conduct of trial runs in April. He instructed officials to take up civil, electrical and mechanical works concurrently in all the project sites round-the-clock to meet the deadlines.

On his first field visit after taking charge as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term, Chandrashekhar Rao visited the project site and examined the ongoing works at Medigadda barrage, Kannepalli pumphouse and Annaram barrage under KLIS in Jayashankar Bhupalpalli and Peddapalli districts on Tuesday. He will stay overnight at his residence in Theegalaguttapalli on Karimnagar outskirts and will resume the field visit on Wednesday and inspect progress of Sundilla barrage and other works.

As part of the field trip, the Chief Minister went to Medigadda barrage construction site where he conducted an aerial survey in the helicopter before landing. He inquired about the progress of the main barrage, setting up of gates and other works. Of the 85 gates, 12 were already fixed and the remaining gates were in various stages of implementation, the engineers informed the Chief Minister. Kaleshwaram project Chief Engineer N Venkateshwarlu and representatives of construction agencies explained the progress of works through a photo exhibition on the occasion.

Chandrashekhar Rao reminded that people of Telangana, particularly farmers, were waiting for completion of Kaleshwaram project with bated breath, and the officials need to speed up the works on a war-footing to fulfil the aspirations of the people. “All the works must be completed by March 31. Trials runs should be conducted during April and May, besides addressing pending issues during the period. The project should be operational from June under any circumstance,” he said. He reiterated that there was no dearth of funds for the project and asked them not to compromise with regard to project safety and completion within the stipulated time.

The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to take up civil works, including construction of pumphouses and fixing of motors simultaneously. He asked them to complete the earth works and revetment walls up to the full reservoir level. He also examined the operation of the gates at Medigadda barrage and directed the officials to complete the raft foundation work of the barrage by this month end. The contract agency officials were instructed to take up concrete works of at least 10,000 cu.m per day.

Later, Chandrashekhar Rao inspected the forebay and head regulator works at Kannepalli pumphouse. He suggested that the 11 pumps should be fixed by March end, to facilitate trial runs at Kannepalli. The officials informed him that the motor pumps had reached Chennai port and were being transported by road to the project site. He also called up TSTransco Chairman and Managing Director D Prabhakar Rao over telephone and directed him to complete the sub-station works to ensure adequate power supply to the pumphouses. He also inspected the works at Annarage barrage.Chief Secretary SK Joshi, DGP Mahender Reddy, Government Whip Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, MLAs Vemula Prashanth Reddy, N Diwakar Rao, Gandra Venkatramana Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, Seethakka, Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation Chairman and CM’s political secretary Seri Subhash Reddy, Government Advisor G Vivek, Engineer-in-Chief Muralidhar Rao and others accompanied the Chief Minister.