Vigilance Enforcement report on Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme in final stage

The Vigilance and Enforcement Wing’s investigation into the construction of Medigadda barrage and other key components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation scheme is in the final stage. Government sources said its report is getting the finishing touches.

Hyderabad: The Vigilance and Enforcement Wing’s investigation into the construction of Medigadda barrage and other key components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation scheme is in the final stage. Government sources said its report is getting the finishing touches.

The Vigilance wing is functioning directly under the control of the Chief Minister. As desired by the Congress government, the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) wing teams conducted searches in Irrigation Department offices across the State and seized documents from the Jala Soudha and offices of senior engineers elsewhere.

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The government had initiated action against senior irrigation officials who have been associated with the KLIS works based on the findings it furnished in the interim report. But despite continued investigation, the final report was not ready. The delay owed also to the passing of its Director General Rajiv Ratan due to a heart attack on April 9. The investigation handed over to the vigilance wing suffered a temporary setback, said the official sources.

Director General, Anti-Corruption Bureau, C.V. Anand was given full additional charge as Director General of Vigilance and Enforcement in July. The final report of the Vigilance wing on the KLIS is being vetted with a careful review of the findings. The findings of the vigilance wing which had probed into the Construction of the KLIS were asked for by the Judicial Commission headed by Justice P C Ghose, which is simultaneously probing into the construction of the Project and its three barrages.

As the Irrigation Department failed to respond to the requests of the Judicial Commission for the interim report of the Vigilance wing, the Commission wrote to the government for it. The Irrigation Department, according to senior officials, had shared only photocopies of all the documents the vigilance wing had seized from the different offices of the department including the office of the ENC (General) and the office of the ENC of the project.

All the Irrigation officials associated with the construction of the project have submitted their affidavits in writing to the Judicial Commission sharing the information available with them. The Judicial Commission had taken the observations of the experts in the field of water resources. It may now call some key officials of the irrigation department for cross examination, which would be the crucial phase of its investigation. The Commission is also waiting for the final report of the National Dam Safety Authority which is also investigating the Construction issues in the KLIS.

The NDSA submitted its interim report on May 1to the State government. But the interim report was not shared with the Department and agencies concerned for the next three weeks and it resulted in the action to be taken by the department. By the time the Department embarked on the interim works as suggested by the NDSA, the barrages received inflows affected the works. Even the studies suggested by the NDSA could not be completed because of the delay in acting on the NDSA interim report. (EOM)