Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has held the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government entirely responsible for the collapse of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, calling it the “biggest man-made disaster since Independence” and India’s costliest engineering failure by any state government.
Releasing the final report of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) on Tuesday, Reddy revealed that all three major barrages of the project—Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla—suffered structural failure due to negligence, unscientific design, and deliberate mismanagement by the former administration under ex-Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR).
He stated that Telangana is now burdened with ₹16,000 crore annually in interest and loan repayments for what he described as a “faulty and hastily executed project” that lacked scientific grounding. “Public money was squandered for political publicity, and farmers are paying the price,” Reddy asserted.
The NDSA report highlighted serious lapses, including ignored signs of seepage since 2019, improper borehole investigations, absence of maintenance records, and violations of safety norms. It confirmed that the barrages were only designed for 2 TMC of water but were overloaded with over 10 TMC each, purely to boost the government’s image, ultimately causing their collapse.
Reddy also criticized the abandonment of the original Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella project at Tummadihatti—a more feasible and nationally recognized irrigation plan—in favor of the re-engineered Kaleshwaram project, which he claims was driven by propaganda.
He denounced KCR’s attempts to discredit the NDSA findings and stressed the broader damage caused: “This failure has not only drained Telangana’s finances but also affected the state’s credibility. Even new irrigation projects like Sitaramasagar are being withheld by the Centre due to this collapse.”
Despite the setback, Reddy noted that under the Congress government, Telangana recorded record paddy production in the Yasangi season, proving that sound governance, not over-engineering, delivers results.
He assured that the Congress-led government would pursue legal accountability, implement scientific planning without political interference, and launch a public awareness campaign to expose the previous regime’s failures. Expert bodies, including WALAMTARI and a judicial commission, are now engaged in corrective measures, and a reassessment of the Pranahita-Chevella project is underway.
“This is not just political failure—it is a public infrastructure tragedy,” Reddy concluded. “We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable and that Telangana never faces such betrayal again.”
