Former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former Irrigation Minister Harish Rao have urged the High Court to quash the report given by Justice PC Ghosh Commission on the Kaleshwaram project, alleging it was a completely political report.
They alleged that the state government had set up a judicial inquiry commission as part of a political conspiracy to allege irregularities in the construction of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages, which are part of the Kaleshwaram project.
They said that the commission conducted an investigation illegally, called them as witnesses and submitted a unilateral report without giving them the opportunity for cross-examination. They said that the current government is spreading misinformation about the BRS government by not responding to their requests for a complete report and leaking it to the media.
KCR and Harish Rao have separately filed petitions in the High Court to quash the report of Justice PC Ghosh Commission and to prevent the media from spreading misinformation about them. The hearing on this was held on Thursday. They said that the appointment of the commission was done due to political conspiracy and that the commission was formed with the malicious intention of defaming the reputation of the previous BRS government.
KCR challenged the Justice PC Ghosh Commission report on July 31 this year, which alleged that former CM KCR himself had selected the project sites and given administrative approvals without the approval of the cabinet. He strongly objected to the commission’s finding that additional work was handed over through verbal orders in favor of contractors.
He concluded that the construction of the Pranahita-Chevella project in the combined state in 2007 was nothing more than an eye-opener. In fact, the Maharashtra government had objected to the construction of that project and the project could not go ahead due to inter-state issues, lack of water availability and other reasons.
After the formation of Telangana state in 2014, he said that the then BRS government decided to construct the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation seam with barrages at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla after conducting a survey through the central government agency WAPCOS.
KCR asserted that the cabinet approved the redesign and name change, he said. Moreover, the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme has been approved by the Central Water Commission, the Union Environment Ministry, the Technical Advisory Committee and relevant institutions, he added.
