Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Top 10 facts about Maharashtra\'s multi-crore irrigation scam



As the the mega irrigation scam in Maharashtra that strained relations between Congress and its alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is getting murkier, here\'s all you want to know anout the Rs 72,000-crore scandal.





1. Costs of 38 irrigation projects in Vidarbha were increased from Rs 6,672 crore to Rs 26,722 crore by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC).





2. Shockingly, this mind-numbing 300% cost escalation of over Rs 20,000 crore was approved in a short span of three months between June and August 2009.





3. The VIDC reasoned that the costs were revised because of the change in price levels, higher quotes by contractors, increase in the cost of land acquisition, engineering changes and other reasons. But the rush to revise costs and give bulk approvals to 38 projects in just three months has raised eyebrows in government circles.





4. In one unusual case, revised administrative approval for the Lower Wardha project was granted on Independence Day (August 15), a national holiday.





5. The project cost was revised by VIDC\'s then executive director from Rs 950 crore to Rs 2,356 crore on that day. Sources point out another case of the Upper Wardha project in Amravati, where the cost was revised from Rs 661 crore to Rs 1,376 crore in July. Another case is that of the Bembala river project in Yavatmal district of Vidarbha. Official documents show that its cost was revised from Rs 1,278 crore to Rs 2,176 crore on August 14, 2009. Bembala was one of the 10 projects given revised administrative approvals hurriedly on that day.





6. On June 24, 2009, VIDC issued 10 revised administrative approvals for Vaisawali, Lonwadi, Dagadparwa and Dava minor irrigation schemes, and larger projects such as Human Nadi, Kharbadi K T Weir, Jigaon, Khadak Purna, Pentakali and Chandrabhaga. Once these revised administrative approvals were granted, the VIDC hurriedly invited tenders for all the 38 projects. These approvals were given by then executive director Devendra Shirke.





7. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had courted controversy in view of the large-scale and arbitrary increase in the costs of irrigation projects in the state.





8. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has already begin a probe into the decisions taken by the irrigation ministry and questioned some employees from the department on September 24.





9. During his stint as water resources minister, Pawar \'hurriedly\' granted project approvals totalling Rs 20,000 crore during an eight-month period in 2009 (32 in June-August), without the mandatory clearance of the governing council of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation.





10. Also, in an explosive revelation, a whistle-blower in the state government had claimed that a staggering Rs 35,000 crore was siphoned off and wasted on dud irrigation projects in the past decade. The Maharashtra government has spent Rs 70,000 crore on such projects across the state during this period.


News From: http://www.7StarNews.com

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