hyderabad
Two months after assuming office, the Congress government cracked whip against two senior engineers (Engineers-in-Chief) in the Irrigation Department by asking one of them to quit and by dismissing another from the service. Interestingly, both the senior engineers are working on extension after their retirement.
According to officials, Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has directed ENC (General) in Hyderabad C. Muralidhar to put in his papers, while issued orders for dismissal of ENC (Irrigation) at Ramagundam N. Venkateshwarlu from service. The two played a key role in the execution of head works of the Kaleshwaram project – Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla Barrages and the pump houses linked to them and a couple of other pump houses.
Mr. Muralidhar, who retired from service on attaining the age of superannuation in the position of ENC on June 30, 2013, was given extension repeatedly since then, first by the Congress government before bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh, and then by the TRS/BRS Government. He was given extension “until further orders” in June 2019.
Similarly, Mr. Venkateshwarlu, who retired from regular service on March 31, 2019, was given extension for two-year term each twice and last year he was given extension for a year — up to March 31, 2024.
While Mr. Muralidhar has been holding responsibility for the execution of projects including the inter-State matters at the head (State) office, Mr. Venkateshwaralu has been looking after the Kaleshwaram project execution till Mid Manair Reservoir. During a recent press conference, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy directly named Mr. Muralidhar as being responsible for the Krishna waters issue.
It is understood that both the ENCs were understood to have not been furnishing the information sought for even by the Irrigation Minister, particularly on the Medigadda Barrage fiasco and alleged corruption in the execution of Kaleshwaram project.
