Irrigation project cost escalated to Rs 2400 crore, says BJP

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra state BJP today alleged that the cost of 11 barrages in the Marathwada region escalated between 30 to 80 times and went upto Rs 2,400 crore.

Demanding a probe by the Special Investigation Team ( SIT) into the multi-crore irrigation scam, BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis today said that all officials and ministers allegedly involved in the scam should be probed.

The Godavari Irrigation Development Corporation ( GIDC) was to build 11 Kolhapur Type (KT) weirs in four districts of Parbhani, Jalna, Aurangabad and Nanded estimated to cost around Rs 200 crore, for which administrative approvals were given in 2006, he said.

However, midway, GIDC decided to upgrade the projects without clearance from the Central Water Commission, along the dry Godavari river basin, where increase in storage was not feasible. The design change led to cost escalation of these 11 projects to around Rs 2400 cror, he alleged.

"The most astonishing fact is that even with the change in design, there was no increase in storage capacity. The state water resources policy states that for creating storage capacity of one thousand million cubic feet, approximately Rs 3.5 crore can be utilised. In GIDC's case, to increase storage by a mere 0.5 per cent, more than Rs 200 crore was spent on each of the 11 projects," Fadnavis alleged.

Attacking former Maharashtra Water Resource Minister Ajit Pawar, he alleged that in 2008 Pawar had assured the assembly of a high-level probe into the scam.

Fadnavis also claimed that in 2009, soon after Rs 1164 crore was disbursed to the GIDC, the state-appointed Kulkarni Committee came down heavily on the 11 projects.