Prestigious Medigadda Barrage Pillars under Kaleshwaram Project sunk. Reasons not known

Hyderabad : In a major set back the pillars of newly constructed Medigadda Barrage, a highly prestigious one under Kaleshwaram Lift irrigation project has sunk ringing alarm bells. It was inaugurated in June 2019. In all there are 87 pillars. Traffic between Telangana and Maharashtra was stopped and has been diverted on alternate routes.

According to engineers of the Irrigation department 15 to 20 pillars from sixth to eight block of the barrage had sunk with huge sounds from the gate near the blocks late on Saturday evening. But the information was kept under wraps till past midnight. Officials said since it was very dark they could not estimate the extent of damage and which gates were damaged. The officials would inspect the barrage today and take up necessary measures.

The loud noise is stated to have been heard somewhere near the 20th pillar on the Maharashtra side. By then the L&T and Irrigation staff engaged in works on the bridge had left for the day. The control room staff immediately alerted higher officials, who inspected the project and found that about 300 metres from the Maharashtra border, a portion of the bridge was out of alignment.

The barrage the government had claimed was constructed with gigantic concrete piers that are 110 m in length, 4 m/6 m in width and 25m height. The L&T which constructed these pillars claimed that the construction involved concrete used that was equivalent to build 7 Burj Khalifas, steel used to equivalent to building 15 Eiffel Towers and earth excavated fo 6 pyramids of Giza. Further they claimed the team set a world record by pouring 25.584 cum concrete in 72 hours.

This is the first barrage under Klis, connecting Telangana and Maharashtra, at Sironcha, and has storage capacity of 10.87 tmc ft. The change in alignment of the road was first noticed by motorists around 8pm who informed the irrigation department and police. After the pillars sank, officials lifted 40 gates and released water down stream. They sounded siren and alerted residents of villages downstream. L&T officials are not yet reachable.

As a precautionary measure, officials have begun releasing the stored water at the barrage to facilitate a full examination of the pillars.

Irrigation Engineer-in-Chief Venkateshwarlu maintained that detailed information was not yet available and no light could be thrown on the conspiracy angle as of now. The law enforcement agencies in both states have been alerted about the development. The officials are now conveniently saying that the L&T which had built the barrage has the responsibility of maintaining it for five years.

The company has to take responsibility for taking up repairs if any and the Government need not spend anything. Venkateshwarlu said the repairs would be carried out in a month or two and vehicular traffic restored as quickly as possible.

It may be mentioned that Kaleshwaram project has been under fire from opposition parties including the Congress and BJP saying that large scale corruption had taken place. This incident on the eve of polls could add fuel to fire. Opposition parties are wondering how come a prestigious project taken up by a prestigious construction company suffered sinking of pillars just in four years time.