KCR deposes before judicial panel probing 'irregularities' in Kaleshwaram project

BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday deposed before the judicial commission probing the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, which was built during the previous BRS regime.

Rao arrived at the commission's office at about 11 AM and left by 1 pm after his deposition.

Rao, also known as KCR, explained, among others, the rationale behind taking up the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project to ensure availability of water for drinking and irrigation, BRS sources said.

The deposition lasted for about 50 minutes and it was a one-on-one interaction and a commission staffer was present, they said.

Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy told reporters that law would take its own course after the judicial commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge P C Ghose, submits its findings.

Several BRS leaders and workers assembled at the Burgula Ramakrishna Rao Bhavan here, in view of KCR's appearance, where the commission's office is located. Elaborate security arrangements were made in view of KCR's visit.

The commission has questioned a number of engineers and other officials, especially of the irrigation department, in the last one year since its probe began.

KCR's nephew and BRS MLA T Harish Rao, who was irrigation minister in the BRS government, appeared before the panel on June 9.

BJP Lok Sabha member Eatala Rajender, who was finance minister in the BRS government, was also questioned by the commission on June 6.

Speaking to reporters before KCR's appearance, his son and BRS Working President K T Rama Rao claimed that the notice issued to his father to appear before the panel is only "harassment" and "political vendetta" by the Congress government in Telangana.

Truth will triumph in the end, he said.

Launching a vitriolic attack on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Rao said people would teach him a lesson for "harassing" KCR "who made Telangana a top state in agriculture production, surpassing even Punjab and Haryana".

The damage to the barrages of the Kaleshwaram project became a key issue during the 2023 assembly elections in the state.

Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy recently said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has labelled the Kaleshwaram project, built at a cost of over Rs one lakh crore, to be "probably" the biggest man-made disaster in the country.

Referring to the ruling Congress's criticism about some piers of the Medigadda barrage of the 'sinking' in 2023, Harish Rao had said the Kaleshwaram project comprises many other parts and that they are all intact.