Lack of funds chokes progress of cement nala bandhs

NASHIK: The projects undertaken by the water conservation department in the district under phase III of the state government's scarcity alleviation programme have been halted for lack of funds.
Of the total of 239 projects that were undertaken by the department in January as per the government orders, only 51 have been completed so far.
According to a senior official in the department, the division managed to complete 51 cement nala bandhs raised in chains across the natural water flowing bodies.The bandhs were part of the measures to arrest the runoff water from the nallas during monsoon, which further helped in increasing the water table of the region.
The department has completed the survey administrative approval and the technical approval for all the projects, but the tender process for only 128 has been done; besides the 51 bandhs competed so far.
The state government had released Rs 40.2 lakh for the projects, each of which cost anywhere from Rs 10 lakh and above. "We have helped the department construct the bandhs, but since the department has not made the payments so far, we are unable to go ahead with the new ones," one of the contractors said, on the condition of anonymity.
"It would be wrong to say so given that one CNB was expected to be completed in span of three to six months and we have completed 51 so far. While the project was initiated in 2013-14, the government orders came in only in January this year. Inspite of having just six months in hand until the monsoon began, we have been able to complete 51 projects, which helped in the water harvesting this season itself. Despite only six months in hand before the start of the rainy season, we completed 51 projects that already started helping in water harvesting. The rest of the projects will begin after rainy season. As far as payments go, they are being executed as per the availability of funds," executive engineer S M Saindansingh said.
Twenty-nine cement nala bandhs have been approved in 11 villages in Sinnar and 23 in Deola taluka. While Sinnar had been reeling under drought for the last three years, Deola also faced water scarcity during the period.
Niphad has 18 bandhs in five villages, out of which, 13 have already been completed. Niphad leads the tally of completed projects, while in Sinnar, only six projects have been completed out of a total of 29 bandhs sanctioned across 11 of its villages.
"The current rains have resulted in arresting of some water in Niphad taluka this season itself, but the exact result will be visible only a couple of years down the line," the officer informed.
The officer further pointed out that phase II of the scheme was announced in around July this year, of which, all the projects were completed. In all, 75 bandhs were planned and executed across the district. Nandgaon benefitted the most with 31 bandhs and Sinnar with 21.