Hyderabad, Sept. 1 -- Telangana's Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy told the Legislative Assembly that the collapse of the Medigadda barrage under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) has left the state facing "the biggest man-made and financial disaster in independent India."

He said that key civil-works assets have remained unusable for nearly two years, and the state is saddled with costs that he said were avoidable and unsupported by sound engineering or administrative discipline.

Reddy, on Sunday, opened the debate on the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission of Inquiry report. He alleged that decisions of the previous TRS (now BRS) government ignored expert warnings, altered designs without app...