The Justice PC Ghose Commission, which is probing alleged irregularities in the previous BRS government’s prestigious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, questioned Telangana IAS officers Somesh Kumar and Smita Sabharwal on Thursday, December 19. Both of them reportedly did not give clear answers related to decisions made by the Chief Minister’s Office regarding the execution of the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrage of the Kaleshwaram project, claiming that they were oblivious to what was going on in the Chief Minister’s Office.
While Smita Sabharwal was Additional Secretary to then Chief Minister K Chandasekhar Rao, former Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar also held full additional charge as Principal Secretary (Irrigation) from May to August, 2019. However, when asked about the inauguration date of Medigadda barrage (June 21, 2019), Somesh Kumar said he could not recall it, Deccan Chronicle reported.
The commission was irked by some of the replies from the bureaucrats, according to The Times of India. Both the officials reportedly claimed that they were not involved in some of the decisions taken by the Chief Minister’s Office regarding the Kaleshwaram project. Somesh Kumar said that he may have cleared some files based on information given by irrigation department officials, but wasn’t aware of financial matters.
Six piers of the Medigadda Barrage, the starting point of the Kaleshwaram project, sank in October 2023, weeks before the Telangana Assembly elections. The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) said that the piers sank due to various issues involving “planning, design, quality control and operation and maintenance.”
When the commission asked Smita Sabharwal about administrative sanctions for funds and other files getting approvals directly from the Chief Minister’s Office, without Cabinet approval, she claimed that she was unaware of these happenings, The New Indian Express reported.
A day earlier, on December 18, former Chief Secretary of Telangana and former Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) SK Joshi also deposed before the commission. He reportedly said that there was nothing on record to show that any single official approval was given for the Kaleshwaram project, and that nearly 200 different approvals were given for various components.