Maharashtra government rapped for failing to recover royalty, penalty

MUMBAI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has rapped Maharashtra government for failing to recover royalty and penalty aggregating to Rs 202.68 crore from Krishna Valley Development Corporation for illegal extraction of minerals.

The CAG report, tabled in the just concluded budget session of the state legislature, points out KVDC extracted mineral like ''murum'' stone, crush stone clay and utilised for construction of Neera Deodhar and Gunjanwadi dam projects during 1997-98 without payment of royalty of Rs 11.50 crore.

The report states that the corporation had neither applied for nor permitted to extract minerals. For this illegal extraction, penalty of Rs 191.18 crore leviable was not levied, it added.

The report, however, noted that the illegal extraction was detected and reported by the Tehsildar (Velhe), Pune to the district collector in Oct 2000 and Feb 2001 but the latter did not take any further action to recover the dues.

It resulted in non-realisation of government revenue of Rs 202.68 crore from the said corporation.

Pune collector on June 2001 stated that action to recover the dues was in progress and no recovery could be effected for want of co-ordination among the staff, the report says.

The government also accepted the audit observations and stated that necessary information in this regard from all the irrigation corporations would be collected, the report said.