Engineers call for mitigation measures to safeguard Kaleshwaram project

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Retired Engineers Association on Friday called for several mitigation measures to prevent a recurrence of submergence of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme pump houses and to keep the Kadam dam safe from any future heavy flood event that could yet again allow River Godavari to rampage through the projects. TREA, in a statement after a meeting of its members, said that the pumping stations of the Kaleshwaram projects will require protection walls around them to prevent river water from entering them in the future. He said though the project planners had taken into account the 1986 floods of Godavari, the impact of the water from the Pranahita river joining the Godavari during heavy rain events, and the consequent rise in backwater levels were not taken into account as such an event had not occurred in the past. The meeting was attended among others by TREA president G. Damodar Reddy, members Venkat Rama Rao, Ananta Ramulu, Chandramouli, MV Ranga Reddy, Tanneer Venkatesham, and Ziauddin, all senior retired engineers.