Balganga dam project: Maharashtra ACB files FIR against contractor, irrigation officials

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday filed a first information report (FIR) against a top irrigation contractor, his employees and officials of the irrigation department in awarding of a contract for the construction of a dam over the Balganga river in Raigad district. Social activist Anjali Damania had first raised an alarm over the dam project hinting at a scam.

The FIR lodged at Kopri police station by the ACB's Thane unit has named five officials of FA Enterprises, besides six officials of the irrigation department. The FIR names Fateh Mohammad Khatri and his son Nisar, who run the FA Enterprises, along with other irrigation department employees. FA Enterprises, which bagged the contract to construct the dam, is accused of influencing the tender process and also not having the requisite clearances to commence the project.

The project was initially estimated to be constructed at just Rs 420 crore, but later it went up to Rs 1,320 crore, three times the initial estimates. ACB officials believe that FA Enterprises vitiated the tender process by floating dummy firms that had also bid for the Balganga contract.

It is reliably learnt that after the case was registered, the cops have raided 16 places in the state which included residence of employees and officials of FA enterprises, said ACB officials.

The ACB had launched an open inquiry in the case in December 2014 after a complaint was filed by Anjali Damania. Interestingly, the Khatri-owned FA Enterprises and another firm controlled by them, FA Construction, have managed to corner 13 major contracts in Konkan during the previous Congress-NCP tenure. Almost all these dam projects executed by these firms have seen huge cost escalations and have been stuck in controversy due to the absence of several clearances to start the construction.