Hyderabad, June 2 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President and former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will appear before Justice PC Ghose Commission, probing irregularities in the execution of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project, on June 11.

KCR, as Chandrasekhar Rao is popularly known, was asked to appear on June 5, but on his request, the Commission changed the date.

The Commission on May 20 had issued notices to KCR, former minister T. Harish Rao and BJP MP Eatala Rajender. BRS leader Harish Rao has been summoned on June 6. Rajender has been directed to appear before the Commission on June 9.

When KCR was the Chief Minister, Harish Rao was the Irrigation Minister, while Rajender was the Finance Minister.

The Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose, is probing the alleged irregularities in planning, design, construction, quality control, operation and maintenance of Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla Barrages of the Kaleshwaram project.

The one-man Commission was constituted in March 2024, a few months after some piers of the Medigadda Barrage caved in.

The term of the Commission has been extended repeatedly for seven times so far after its initial term ended on June 30, 2024. Notices to KCR, Harish Rao and Rajender were issued a day after the state government extended the Commission’s term for two more months, till July 31, to enable it to complete the examination of all those involved.

The Commission has so far examined over 100 engineers, retired and serving officials associated with the barrages and others. Most of the engineers who were examined by the Commission either admitted to lapses in the procedures or expressed ignorance about decision-making.

The Commission examined various documents, including the final report of the National Dam Safety Authority, the Vigilance report and other files.

The panel was expected to submit its report to the government on May 21 or 22. However, the Commission decided to examine KCR, Harish Rao and Rajender as most of the engineers and officials who deposed before it stated that the decisions were taken in the presence of the then Chief Minister and that they acted on the Chief Minister’s and ministers’ orders.

The BRS alleged that the notice to KCR is an attempt by the Congress government to cover up its corruption and failures.

–IANS

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