Maharashtra Irrigation Scam - Dy CM Ajit Pawar Quits

Ajit Pawar(nephew of NCP  Leader Sharad Pawar) resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister (following allegations of an 'Irrigation Scam' when he was state's Water Resource Minister or a decade between 1999 and 2009)on Tuesday Sep 25,2012 but Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is yet to accept his
resignation.

The entire NCP team of ministers also put in their resignations, although they were meant to be more of a mark of solidarity for Ajit Pawar rather than signaling a real intent of sacrifice for the deputy CM's sake. Unlike Ajit who sent his resignation to CM Prithviraj Chavan , NCP ministers submitted their papers to state party president Madhukar Pichhad

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-Aug), without the mandatory clearance of the governing council of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation.
 

The cost of 38 irrigation projects in Vidarbha was increased by over 300% from Rs 6,672 crore to Rs 26,722 crore by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) and this was approved in a short span of three months between June and August 2009.

Ajit Pawar's resignation come just ahead of a white paper on irrigation to be tabled in the Assembly and the beginning of CAG audit into irrigation projects. Rs 70,000 crore were spent on these projects over a decade with only a 0.01 per cent increase in irrigated area. 

Jan Manch, a voluntary organisation, filed a writ petition in the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in August, demanding an inquiry into the cost overruns, especially in the Ghosikhurd project in Vidarbha and the alleged siphoning off of public funds. The court has sent notice to the government.

The writ petition said, “Within a span of seven months in 2009, the cost of 38 irrigation projects under the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) escalated by a whopping Rs. 20,050.06 crore — from Rs. 6,672.27 crore to Rs. 26,722.33 crore.” 

The petition said the cost of irrigation of one hectare incurred by the State was as high as Rs. 9.81 lakh, against the limit of Rs.1.5 lakh-Rs. 2.5 lakh mandated by the Central Water Commission.

30 of these projects were granted approvals in just 4 days — August 14, 2009 (11 projects); June 24, 2009 (10 projects); July 7, 2009 (5 projects); and August 18, 2009 (4 projects). The cost of these projects went up by six times the original cost to 33 times with the revised administrative approval granted by the VIDC. In the case of 12 projects, the cost shot up by more than twice the original estimates. 

The estimated cost of the Human Nadi project in Sindewahi tehsil in Chandrapur district was Rs.33,67,74. On June 24, 2009, the first revision to administrative approval was done, and the estimated cost was increased to Rs. 1,016.486 crore. It was over 29 times the initial estimated cost. Many revised administrative approvals were granted the same day. 

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.As many complaints came in, the government appointed retired bureaucrat Nandkumar Vadnare in March 2010 to probe the functioning of the VIDC. The one-man committee was asked to investigate various matters relating to the financial years 2006-07, 2008-09, and 2009-2010.

Corruption under the present(2009- present) Water Resources Minister, Sunil Tatkare, has been exposed by the India Against Corruption; at least one dam plan was scrapped after complaints to the Governor, and another has been stayed by the High Court.

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 24,2012.

White Paper on Irrigation 

The white paper, presented by the irrigation department to the State Cabinet on Nov 29,2012 had claimed a 28 % increase in irrigation potential and and a 68-69 thousand million cubic (TMC) ft increase in water provided for industry and domestic purpose in Maharashtra in the last ten years.According to the White Paper,only Rs. 42,000 crore, and not Rs. 70,000 crore, had been spent on irrigation projects in the State during the last decade, which also included the costs of land acquisition and relief and rehabilitation.

It also boasts of the completion of 58 hydro-electric power projects with a power generation capacity of 3606 MW.

It was described as a status paper on irrigation and not an investigation report.