Hyderabad: Union Minister Bandi Sanjay accused the Telangana government of ignoring repeated check dam collapses, arguing that injustice continued even eleven years after the formation of the state. He said structural failures exposed serious gaps in quality control. His letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, sent today, followed the collapse of a check dam constructed near Tanugula and Gumpula in Jammikunta mandal of Karimnagar district.
He demanded immediate action against those responsible. He asked the government to file criminal cases against contractors who violated norms and insisted on seizing their properties to recover public money. That step, he said, would reinforce accountability. He also urged the Chief Minister to order an inquiry by an independent agency because several citizens had raised doubts over the works.
Fresh scrutiny over check dam collapses and fund use
Sanjay linked the Tanugula–Gumpula collapse to a wider pattern of financial misuse. He recalled how the Kaleshwaram project, built with more than one lakh crore rupees, exposed large-scale mismanagement. He said design flaws and weak construction turned significant public investment into waste. Many structures had fallen during the 2021 floods, he added.
He noted that people continued to question payments for low-quality works. He reminded that the Chief Minister ordered a vigilance inquiry in May into ₹287 crore paid for 57 check dams on the Manair river across Karimnagar, Sircilla and Peddapalli districts. The government had not released any update on that inquiry, he said.
Several Congress leaders secured contracts during the previous BRS regime, according to him. They ignored quality norms, he said, and the BRS government turned a blind eye to supervision because of commissions. Leaders from both parties now visit the collapsed site and shift blame to each other, which he described as an attempt to mislead citizens.
Allegations of commissions, neglect and sand mining
Sanjay said commissions and political negligence pushed the structures into repeated failure. He accused the present Congress government of encouraging illegal sand mining and failing to protect existing check dams. Senior ruling-party leaders and MLAs, he said, continued sand-related activities much like their predecessors.
He argued that timely investigation into complaints could have prevented the current situation. Farmers now suffered because both parties ignored basic oversight, he said. Unauthorised sand extraction in the water-spread area weakened fertile soil and damaged nearby fields.
Sanjay urged the government to act on check dam collapses without delay and ensure accountability at every level.