The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Maddileru project: experts find quality of work poor

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 10, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Maddileru project: experts find quality of work poor

By B. Chandrashekhar

ANANTAPUR, JAN. 8. A Vigilance and Enforcement Directorate team including the engineering experts led by the V&E Joint Director, Jashwant Kumar, inspected the Yogi Vemana Reservoir (Maddileru Project) in Mudigubba mandal of the district on January 7. The team was learnt to have video filmed all the work components of the project in which large-scale irregularities and gross violation of quality norms were being alleged. According to official sources, the team also reportedly made an observation of gross violation of quality norms in the works.

It was learnt that about 800 litres water was leaking out even from the dead storage every minute. Major leakages in the project were found in 2001 when floodwater was impounded. Poor quality of works led to washing away of buckets beneath the crest gates when they were lifted fearing threat to dam safety. As a result, it was not possible to store the designed capacity of 0.980 tmcft water.

Report in a week

The V&E report is likely to be submitted to the Government in about a week. It assumes significance at a time when repair works, mainly reconstruction of buckets, at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.5 crores were sanctioned to the contractor who had constructed the project, but on a different firm's name this time.

The project completed at a cost of Rs. 59.6 crores failed to provide irrigation facility to its intended ayacut of 13,000 acres. About 40 per cent of the ayacut belongs to poor farmers.

Lack of quality in the works beginning with the foundation had denied storage of water for the last three seasons.

Family affair

The contract pertaining to reconstruction of buckets was given to the company owned by one Padmavati Reddy. Interestingly, a company owned by one, Y. Konda Reddy, father-in-law of Padmavati Reddy, executed the original construction. Konda Reddy's company was blacklisted after a panel found that the buckets were washed away due poor quality of work. The same firm had also constructed the Penna Ahobilam Balancing Reservoir at a cost of about Rs. 150 crores. But, the PABR too fails to hold even 2.4 tmcft water due to poor quality of construction, though the designed storage capacity is 10 tmcft.

The credentials of Padmavati Reddy's firm, managed by her husband, Y. Ramachandra Reddy, were also alleged to be dubious as it had backed out from construction of canals of Pedaballi reservoir, taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.55 crores, when about Rs. 25 lakhs worth work was yet to be done, on the ground that it was not profitable.

As a result the contract to Padmavati Reddy's company was terminated and the Minor Irrigation Department got the work completed hiring another contractor spending Rs. 45 lakhs.

Fax to YSR

Meanwhile, in a fax message the State secretary of Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham and former MLA, K. Ramakrishna, on Saturday requested the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to cancel the new contract of Maddileru, recover the amount from the original contractor and initiate action against engineers responsible for overlooking quality in the works.

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