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Row erupts over Sunkishala wall collapse
The retaining wall of an under-construction intake well collapsed at Sunkishala near Nagarjunasagar dam on Krishna river in Nalgonda district due to heavy inflows into the river in the early hours of August 2.
Political slugfest has erupted in Telangana over the collapse of the retaining wall of an under-construction intake well and pump house complex at Sunkishala near Nagarjunasagar dam on Krishna river in Nalgonda district due to heavy inflows into the river in the early hours of August 2.
While opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) blamed the Congress government for its negligence in overseeing the project works and demanded a judicial probe into the incident, the Congress alleged that it was due to the poor quality of construction of the project during the BRS regime at a cost of ₹2,215 crore.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao blamed it on the negligence on the part of chief minister A Revanth Reddy, who also handles the municipal administration portfolio, for the collapse of the retaining wall of the Sunkishala project.
KTR said: “The incident took place due to lack of proper supervision of the project works despite the caution of the engineers not to erect gates during the flood season.”
He demanded government order for an inquiry into the incident, involving the public exchequer, with a sitting or retired judge.
“Though the incident happened on August 2 when the assembly session was on, the government deliberately avoided informing the assembly and the people,” he said.
He demanded that the government keep the contracting agency executing the work in blacklist till the inquiry was over, if the government was sincere about the incident.
The Sunkishala project was taken up by the BRS government to draw water from the foreshore of Nagarjunasagar reservoir when the water level goes down to the minimum draw-down level (MDDL) of 462 feet, to meet the drinking water needs of Hyderabad.
For extracting water from the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir, three tunnels were being constructed below the MDDL, and an intake well was being built to channel the water coming through these tunnels. Gates were installed to manage the water flow from these tunnels and a retaining wall was constructed for protection during the construction of the intake well.
On August 1, the retaining wall of the Sunkishala intake well collapsed. As a result, Krishna water entered the surge pool through these tunnels, breaking the gates.
A senior official of the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) said construction materials including earthmoving equipment and machinery submerged in the water. There was no loss of life in the incident as it happened during the time when workers’ change shifts, he said.
After the wall collapse on August 2, deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka visited the project site. He later lashed out at the BRS working president for criticising the present government, instead of accepting the blunder committed by the previous BRS government.
He said it was the same contractor, who was responsible for the collapse of the retaining wall at Lakshmi pump house of Kaleshwaram project on July 22, who was awarded the contract for Sunkishala project as well.
Vikramarka said the Congress government would definitely order an inquiry to ascertain the quality of all the projects on Krishna River taken up during the time of BRS government in the wake of the Sunkishala incident.
“Kaleswaram and Sunkishala projects were constructed under BRS government rule. Kaleshwaram project got sunk even before water was released and Sunkishala project’s shoddy work got exposed after water was released,” Vikramarka said, adding that it was during the BRS government that the retaining wall for Sunkishala project was built.
