The state government will cancel all contracts for irrigation projects in Vidarbha where the project cost has risen beyond what was stipulated in the contracts.
The state government will cancel all contracts for irrigation projects in Vidarbha where the project cost has risen beyond what was stipulated in the contracts.
This was announced by water resources minister Sunil Tatkare after opposition members grilled the state government, alleging corruption to the tune of Rs5,000 crore in the allocation of irrigation projects to private contractors for the Vidarbha region.
However, the government’s statement will affect only a few projects as tenders are still being sought in quite a few cases. The region has 14 major projects.
Leader of the opposition Eknath Khadse (BJP) said the tenders accepted by the state government have inflated the project costs by as much as 300%. “I can understand a contractor raising a project cost by 10% or so, but in Vidarbha, irrigation project costs are three times more than the actual cost,” he said in Vidhan Sabha.
Alleging that a massive scam was under way, he said the projects were approved directly by the ministers’ concerned and did not bear the signatures of any of the secretaries. When asked which ministers he faulted, he replied, “Water resources minister Sunil Tatkare and his predecessor Ajit Pawar.”
He has also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the scam, saying any probe by a state agency would not be impartial.
Earlier, in the Vidhan Sabha, Tatkare said that from 2003-04 to 2009-10, the state had spent nearly Rs12,917 crore on irrigation projects in the Vidarbha region. Further, it had spent Rs4,297 crore in 2010-11 and Rs2815, crore till now.
BJP MLA from Nagpur blasted the state government for providing faulty figures in the assembly, saying it was a blatant attempt to deprive the backward Vidarbha region of its rightful share of development projects.
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