Tolivelugu Crime Bureau: It is very well-known that Dummugudem Project is a dream for the people of Telangana. Back then as a part of YSR’s ‘Jala Yagnam’, funds were allocated for this project. Because of various reasons like delay in land acquisition, strikes by the oppositions, and the pending works due to concerns that water is being diverted to AP, not Telangana, the work on the project has never seen the light of the day. Dummugudem has a long history that took shape from colonial times. It was during the British period, a canal was built to lift the Godavari water and make use of the resources. Engineers in the Department of Irrigation and Drainage say the motors were introduced by the then government in 2008 so that the water could be supplied om a feasible manner.
To dig further into the ground reality behind this, Tolivelugu Crime Bureau has launched an investigation into the matter. BHEL mentioned the topic of Dummugudem in its 12th Plan, it turned out that the planning was based on motors with a capacity of 320 MW. In the investigative process, Tolivelugu got hold of this evidence. Over time, the Dummugudem project was called Rajiv Lift Irrigation, Indira Lift Irrigation. During the KCR’s regime, Rajiv Lift Irrigation was changed to Sitarama Lift Irrigation.
Megha’s working attire in Patti Seema
In 2015, the then AP government with sheer motivation decided to build Pattiseema. The officials came up with various plans on how to connect Godavari and Krishna rivers. Since the Polavaram project would take more time to complete, the leaders preferred to go ahead with Pattiseema first. Tenders were called for at Rs 1,300 crores, which Megha won after quoting Rs 1,600 crore. This mammoth amount scared the big companies as they all assumed that it would take 9 months alone just to deliver the motors even if the orders were placed and purchased. At this juncture, Megha Engineering has won the Limca Book of Records.
The works were initiated and started off at such a speed after the government has promised to give another 5 percent of a bonus if completed in a timely manner. The whole equipment was set up with a capacity of 7,476 meters to operate 24 motors. Within a year, in March 2016, Megha full-fledgedly began the project. The whole procedure which was going on at a great pace was a sheer miracle for the people and was the breaking news on all forms of media. However, people believe that there is a completely hidden story behind this reel story that is shown on television. There are allegations that motors belonging to Telangana were stolen and made to use in Pattiseema. However, no evidence is found so far.
Where did they buy the Motors for Pattiseema?
Megha claimed that they used the motors of Kirloskar Company of which they bought 12 from BHEL and another 12 from China’s Shanghai Electric. Officials raised questions over the authenticity of the source of motors. Megha also submitted the bills they paid at the Chennai port to import the motors. Irrigation officials at the time had many doubts regarding this. There were no clear details about where and from whom the motors were bought and at what price. It is believed that Megha, being a gigantic conglomerate played the right cards and made the news fade away in time.
If the theft of the motors is real, is it a serious crime?
The company that manages various sectors and departments Megha is alleged of stealing motors. It would be a serious crime if all these allegations were proven true. It was popularly believed that Megha company migrated the soil and sand from Telangana for the project constructed by the AP government on the Krishna river. Opposition groups called for a boycott of the assembly. However, neither the KCR government nor the Jagan government responded to this. Telangana did not oppose the Pattiseema project which started in March 2015, and the KCR government has already shown a stubborn hand to the Dumgudem project under the name of a redesign. There are serious allegations that the motors were taken by Megha company to fix them in Pattiseema within 175 days. Scholars believe that the bond shared between the Kaleshwaram Project and Megha is the reason behind the theft of Telangana’s motors.
Fake bills for the original bills
As per the legal procedure, Megha was supposed to submit the motor bills to the AP government. Instead of complete bills, the company submitted only the import tax bills (which makes it an incomplete submission). Irrespective of this, the government released funds. Officials who were aware of this panicked. Some passed it onto the next step, while others simply slid off the case not wanting to be part of it. However, there was widespread publicity at the time that the money had been released without the signatures of some officials. If these speculations are true, it is a serious crime that would slam Megha with the charges of plundering the country’s wealth.
Did the temporary work make it easy for Megha?
Whenever a single gigantic project is initiated in any geography, the government would demand every single report about every single activity carried forward in the site. They will inspect the technology used in the project, the service time, the status and quality of motors, and the costs of repair of motors (if ever done). The report prepared by the officials will indicate the number of days in which the project will be completed and how much it will cost. However, if at all Polavaram project had been completed, there would have been no questions asked about Pattiseema since over 80 TMC of water reaches the Krishna delta through Polavaram.
On a shocking note, through the officials themselves, it is assumed that the motors were migrated to Pattiseema seven years ago without the latest technology. There is a popular belief that they covered up this incident by publicizing that they completed this gigantic project in a record time. The opposition party claimed that the concerned authorities took mammoth bribes of Rs 300 crores from Megha. On the other hand, the CAAG report also declared that the serious financial allegations against the project were true.
Govt hesitates to reveal the details of the motors!
As of now, both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments are giving inconclusive answers when questioned about the Motors purchases. RTI activists state that the governments are not responding even to the questions raised through the Right to Information Act. To everyone’s surprise, the government is now also hiding the import tax papers submitted by Megha long back.
Tolivelugu Crime Bureau is looking out for more evidence
As it is popularly said that there is no fire without smoke, Megha company has been managing various organizations in different departments. Ever since the inception, they never admitted to any allegations, starting from the IT raids to corruption, to Benami companies, and to the recent incident of IAS officer Rajath Kumar’s wedding. Since the past few years, many retired engineers and construction companies of large projects have expressed doubts about the motors incident. Will Megha ever respond to this? Do they have any intention to explain themselves to the people through Tolivelugu? We will wait and see. However, Tolivelugu will keep striving to expose the facts and bring them to you.
