Kaleshwaram spin meets the court record
Harish Rao says NDSA cleared the way to lift water and CWPRS found no structural problems. The documents we can read say something else — and the Congress government in Telangana still hasn’t bothered to explain its own stand.
The public record leaves the operating question open.
BRS’s T. Harish Rao swung at the Congress government over Kaleshwaram, claiming an NDSA affidavit lets Telangana lift water “as required” and that CWPRS found Annaram and Sundilla sound. The technical paper trail is less friendly to sweeping claims — and less friendly still to the Congress’s evasion.
Start with what is on the record. The Telangana High Court’s April 22, 2026 judgment reproduces the NDSA committee’s findings on Medigadda: the piers sank from lapses in planning, design, quality control and O&M; the barrage is “useless until fully rehabilitated”; impounding water would worsen its condition. It also notes Annaram and Sundilla share design and construction approaches, exposing them to similar failure modes. That is not a clean chit to fill and forget.
On pumping authority, an NDSA clarification reported in July 2026 says deciding whether to lift water in drought is a policy call for the Telangana government, with NDSA focused on dam safety and oversight. That supports who decides — not that the structures are safe to store or operate however the Congress likes to imply when cornered.
And CWPRS? The primary CWPRS technical note on Sundilla — the one on its own site — reports low-velocity anomalies across almost all tested bays and says the results are to inform “whether to store water in the barrage or not” and assess structural safety of the cutoff. That is the opposite of “no structural problems”.
Harish Rao’s jab that pumps are idle for politics is his allegation; the Congress government’s paperwork would settle it. It has put none in public view. If the BJP-led Centre’s technical arms are your shield, read them fully; if your shield has holes, explain your operating protocol or admit you do not have one. The Congress government in Telangana has not bothered to answer.