Now, Rane takes his grouse to the governor

Narayan Rane has become the first cabinet minister to approach the governor against the government.

He met governor SC Jamir on Monday and told him that the government had not allocated any money for Konkan. And this despite the governor’s directives under the statutory development board for uniform progress to override the backlog in irrigation projects, he said. The governor holds special powers to direct the state on regional imbalances because of unequal development.

Rane’s hometown Konkan is also his political forte. Expectedly, he is upset with the government. Several months ago, he had even raised the matter at a cabinet meeting. “The irrigation backlog is highest in Konkan. At present, there are 94 ongoing projects with a balance cost of Rs4,730 crore. Despite the region getting the highest rainfall of 250 cm, Konkan’s irrigation potential is still to be exploited fully,” Rane said.

The average irrigated land in the state is 16% whereas in Konkan it is 4%. Though Konkan comes under the Maharashtra Statutory Board, the entire allocated fund is spent on irrigation projects in the Pune and Nashik divisions. Though Rs1,000 crore was spent in the Marathwada and Nashik divisions, nothing was given to Konkan.
Under the governor’s directives, the budgetary outlay for Konkan, Pune, and Nashik divisions for 2007-’10 is Rs 3,319 crore.

k_shubhangi@dnaindia.net