Hyderabad: A report by Justice (retired) PC Ghose, submitted on July 31, has given the state government the choice to take legal action against former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and others.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy presented the 650-page Ghose Commission report in the Assembly on Sunday. The Assembly then discussed the report, which investigated issues in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).
The Commission’s report suggests that actions could be taken against S K Joshi, former Principal Secretary, and Smita Sabharwal, former Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister, for rule violations and irregularities.
The report holds the then Chief Minister responsible for problems in planning, building, and maintaining the three barrages. It states that while the Irrigation Minister gave random instructions and the Finance Minister showed disinterest in the state’s finances, it is the government’s decision to take legal steps against them. Former Finance Minister Eatala Rajender and Finance Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao were also criticized for ignoring funding methods for KLIS. The report suggests actions against various engineers and officials involved.
The Commission didn’t recommend specific actions, leaving it to the state government to decide on the NDSA (National Dam Safety Authority) report regarding the safety of the barrages. Justice PC Ghose noted that the Commission wouldn’t review reports from the Vigilance & Enforcement Directorate but left the state to act on them.
During the investigation, the Commission communicated with the Irrigation Department for clarifications on the Vigilance report. Justice Ghose mentioned that the government can take steps in line with the NDSA’s final report.
The report found that the previous government hadn’t approved the entire project administratively, instead issuing 73 separate approvals totaling Rs 1,10,248.48 crore. There were no clear government orders on the project’s funding pattern.
By March 2022, Rs 86,788.06 crore was spent on the project, with Rs 55,807.86 crore coming from off-budget borrowings by KIPCL. The project’s Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) was inflated. With a project cost of Rs 81,911.01 crore, the BCR was 0.75, and with an updated cost of Rs 1,47,427.47 crore, it was 0.52, meaning each rupee spent returns only 52 paise, indicating economic impracticality.
The project’s energy demand exceeds the state’s daily average, posing a challenge for power supply to lift irrigation schemes. The lack of a comprehensive funding plan for such a large-scale project shows poor planning, impacting the state’s finances long-term.
