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Irrigation scam: PAC report says undue favours given to contractors involved in Gosikhurd project

Indicting the water resources department for shielding officials held guilty for irregularities in irrigation projects, a committee of the state legislature has pointed to undue favours being given to contractors involved in the construction of one of the longest pending dams in Maharashtra.

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Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare
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Indicting the water resources department for shielding officials held guilty for irregularities in irrigation projects, a committee of the state legislature has pointed to undue favours being given to contractors involved in the construction of one of the longest pending dams in Maharashtra.

In 2012, a controversy had erupted over alleged irregularities in the construction of irrigation projects and the BJP, which was then in the opposition, had levelled allegations at senior NCP leaders including Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare.

The Gosikhurd project was approved in March 1983 at an estimated cost of Rs 372.22 crore and was expected to be completed by March 1990. However, it remains incomplete 33 years after the approvals were granted and the costs stand at a massive Rs 18,494.57 crore, of which Rs 9,642.14 crore were spent as on December 2016.

A report of the public accounts committee, which is headed by Gopaldas Agarwal (Congress), noted that “After 33 long years and spending thousands of crores, the purpose of commissioning the project is yet to be realized.”

It said two inquiry committees under then irrigation secretaries Hiralal Mendhegiri and Nandakumar Vadnere had held 12 and 15 officials guilty respectively for poor quality work on the Gosikhurd dam’s left-bank canal.

The report was submitted in the state legislature in the ongoing Budget Session.

“Despite the two inquiry reports being received, the department has not taken any action against guilty officers,” the committee said, adding that seven officials indicted by the Mendhegiri committee had retired from service and some were even promoted.

“This turn of events… is surprising,” the report noted, while calling the administrative system “moth-eaten.” “It is the clear opinion of the committee that the department is shielding the indicted officers,” the committee said.

“The department did not take any action on the inquiry in the two years between 2012 and 2014. This delay led to the guilty officers getting promotions. They have been given an opportunity to make changes in documents since they are not under suspension,” the report noted.

It called for immediate action to be taken against the indicted officers and responsibility to be fixed against bureaucrats who dragged their feet on submitting the report on the action taken against these people.

The committee noted that five contractors had been allocated work worth Rs 552.14 crore on a 26-km branch on the Ghodzari canal. However, despite the contract not having any conditions to this effect, these contractors were given a mobilisation advance of 10% of the contract value.

“The CAG has raised an objection that this advance was illegal and the contractors were not eligible for it,” the report said, adding that the advance was given to two of the five contractors had not asked for it.

Though the amount had been recovered with interest, the committee has asked for action to be taken against officials who approved the grant of this amount for contractors who had not sought it.

In 2012, the economic survey had said that irrigation in Maharashtra had risen by just 0.1% to 17.9% between 2001 and 2010 despite Rs 70,000 crore being spent on the sector in a decade. This had led then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to assure a White Paper on the issue, leading to a confrontation with the NCP and then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

After allegations of alleged corruption in irrigation projects and undue benefits being granted to contractors had surfaced, Pawar had resigned in September 2012 only to be sworn back again two months later. Pawar was the irrigation minister from 1999 to 2010.

Later, the state government’s White Paper on irrigation projects debunked the 0.1% growth claim and said the figure stood at a much higher 5.17%.

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