Twitter
Advertisement

Maharashtra government wants to finish 41 irrigation projects in 2 years

Of the 41 projects to be expedited, 17 are in Vidarbha, nine are being constructed by the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC), six are in the jurisdiction of the Godavari and Konkan irrigation development corporations each, and works on three are being undertaken by the Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

To irrigate more land in the state, water resources department will focus its priorities on almost-finished projects and try to operationalise them in another two years by laying the 'last mile'. The department has prepared a list of 82 dams which have a minimal work left until completion, and plans to take up works on half of these in this fiscal. 

These dams, on which 75% of the project cost has been spent, will have a storage capacity of 725.524 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) and irrigate 69,664 hectare of agricultural land. 

Of the 41 projects to be expedited, 17 are in Vidarbha, nine are being constructed by the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC), six are in the jurisdiction of the Godavari and Konkan irrigation development corporations each, and works on three are being undertaken by the Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation. 

“These dams have been stuck for technical and social reasons, like canals and pump houses being incomplete, and a small number of landowners resisting land acquisition. We will focus our energies on these projects as they can be completed soon and yield results faster,” said a senior water department official. 

“Unlike in the past, this priority will not be driven by contractors but by practicality as the completion of last-mile works and missing links like pipelines, pump houses and canals can operationalise the dams soon, and lead to benefits for farmers and people at large,” the official noted. 

He added that this would be part of the Rs7,272 crore allocated to the department in the budget. As per the governor's directives for the allocation of funds for backward regions, Rs3,302 crore of the above amount has been set aside for the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC), and of this, Rs1,892.78 crore will be for Amravati, which has a developmental backlog. 

The financial allocation for individual projects will be based on time taken for completion, creation of water storage capacity, irrigation potential and so on. 

Irrigation in the state 

Maharashtra has around 452 ongoing irrigation projects that come at a cost of Rs70,750 crore, as of April 1 last year. Despite having the highest number of dams in the country, the state's irrigation coverage is much less than the national average of about 45%. 

(disposable) 

In 2012, the state's economic survey said that irrigation in Maharashtra had risen by just 0.1% to 17.9% from 2001 to 2010 despite Rs70,000 crore being spent on the sector. This had led then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to assure a white paper on the issue, which led to 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 in again two months later. Pawar was the irrigation minister from 1999 to 2010. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has repeatedly pointed to maladministration in the state's irrigation projects.

Maharashtra has five river basin systems, namely, Tapi, Krishna, Godavari, Narmada, which account for 55% of the dependable water yield, while the remaining 45% water flow is from the westward flowing rivers, which originate in the Western Ghats, are monsoon specific and drain into the Arabian Sea.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement