Govt may proceed legally against L&T

Hyderabad: Taking a serious view of the L&T company’s reluctance to take up repairs of the damaged Medigadda barrage in Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), the state government is mulling legal action against the infrastructure major.

For context, the Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage constructed by L&T, is a key 1.63- km-long, 85-spillway concrete structure under KLIP in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district. Designed ostensibly for irrigation and drinking water supply, the barrage suffered major damage in October 2023 due to flooding. The damage includes the sinking of piers in Block 7, necessitating structural failure investigations.

The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) identified design deficiencies, construction defects, and quality control issues. Reports suggested that the contractor, L&T-PES (L&T Precision Engineering and Systems), violated key terms regarding the construction of secant pile foundations. As of January 2026, the barrage was classified as having the "most serious deficiencies" by the NDSA. The contract agency, L&T-PES, has reportedly not responded to the notices served subsequently by the state government for its reluctance to take up repairs of the damaged barrage.

In view of the growing demand for repairs to the barrage as per the NDSA’s recommendations, the state government had appointed a consultancy to finalise the technical designs for the structure. Upon finalisation of the designs, according to top officials of the state Irrigation Department, two notices were served on L & T, but the company has not yet responded. “The government has taken serious note of the agency’s unwillingness to come forward for the repairs of the damaged piers of the Medigadda barrage on the pretext of completing the contract agreement with the government,” officials said.

The company had claimed that the state government issued Certificate of Completion of Medigadda barrage works on March 30,2021. Officials said that the company was asked to return the Completion Certificate (CC) of the barrage works in 2025. However, it has not responded till date.

The contract agency refused to obey the state government’s demand to surrender the CC as part of resolving the ongoing tussle between the government and L & T over the repairs to the damaged barrage .

The officials claimed that L&T got the CC well before the completion of the works at the barrage. The certificate was invalid since the works costing more than Rs 150 crore were not completed. “After conducting the audit, the Irrigation Department had asked the company to return the certificate,” officials added. The Irrigation Dept authorities said that the company was moving cautiously ever since the piers of the barrages sank in 2023 and the NDSA found the role of company in the damage to the barrage in its interim report.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has already stated that the Medigadda barrage was put in Category -1 under the most serious threat structure in the country. The Union government suggested to the state government to implement various preventive and mitigating measures recommended by the NDSA to safeguard the structure’s integrity and resilience.

According to officials, the contract agency is liable for punishment if it fails to take up repairs of the damaged parts of the barrage.