Harish flags illegal blasting near Mallanna Sagar Bund

Hyderabad: Alleging that blasting was carried out at midnight without permission within 150 metres of the Mallanna Sagar bund, BRS Legislature Party (BRSLP) Deputy Leader T Harish Rao demanded an immediate halt to the activity, the filing of non-bailable cases against the agency concerned and the suspension of officials who allegedly allowed the work.

After receiving information about the blasting, Harish Rao visited Mallanna Sagar on Thursday and personally inspected the bund and the blasting site. The BRS leader claimed that houses located a kilometre away from the dam had developed cracks and that seepage had begun along the bund. He questioned who had authorised the blasting.

Harish Rao said irrigation rules prohibited blasting within 400 metres of the bund, but alleged that explosives, including gelatin sticks, had been used just 150 metres away, with the activity continuing through the night for the past two to three months. He claimed that seepage had appeared along a section of the bund where no such problem had existed earlier.

He further alleged that villagers had reported stones along the bund being displaced by about half a yard and collapsing.

“I called the SI, the CI, the DSP and the Siddipet Police Commissioner from the spot. Not one of them knows of any permission. The Revenue Department says it has no information. The Irrigation Department wrote to the Water Board asking it to stop the work, but its request was ignored,” Harish Rao said.

He alleged that the developments reflected what he described as a conspiracy by the government against the Kaleshwaram project from the beginning.

Referring to the sinking of two pillars at the Medigadda barrage, Harish Rao said there had been suspicions that blasting was responsible. He added that engineers had complained at the time that blasting had taken place.

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K Chandrasekhar

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