Finally, ACB to begin probe into costly Gosikhurd project

MUMBAI: Four months after advocate general Sunil Manohar made a statement before the Bombay high court that irrigation projects would be investigated, the Anti-Corruption Bureau led by Pravin Dixit is all set to initiate a probe into the corruption and irregularities in the inter-district Gosikhurd irrigation project across the Wainganga river.
Responding to a public interest litigation filed by the Nagpur-based Jan Manch, Manohar had on December 12, 2014 told HC the state government had granted permission to conduct an inquiry in the irrigation projects in Konkan and Vidarbha regions.It was then proposed to entrust the probe into 12 projects in the Konkan region and 134 in the Vidarbha region to the ACB.
A senior bureaucrat admitted to ToI on Wednesday that there had been a delay in launching the probe into various projects owing to procedural wrangles. “We were undecided on whether ACB should identify the projects for investigation or the water resources department. Ultimately, it was left to ACB to identify projects. Now ACB will probe the Gosikhurd irrigation project spread over Nagpur, Bhandara and Chandrapur districts,” he said.
The bureaucrat said water resources minister Girish Mahajan has set up three independent committees of experts to provide technical support to ACB. For Konkan region, the committee will comprise superintending engineer S S Waghmare and deputy secretary Sanjay Belsare, while for Vidarbha region, superintending engineer G D Borkar and Belsare will coordinate with ACB. In addition, the task of overall coordination has been entrusted to chief engineers V M Kulkarni and R V Panse, both joint secretaries in the water resources department.
The bureaucrat said that in March 1982, the project cost was estimated at Rs 372.22 crore, and it was expected to bring 2.5 lakh hectares of land under irrigation.
In 1988, the cost increased to Rs 634 crore and in March 2008, it increased to Rs 7,777.85 crore; the project is yet to be completed. “For completing the entire project, we will require another Rs 7,665 crore,” he said.
On irregularities pointed out by CAG and the committees, the bureaucrat said there was unprecedented cost escalation and only a few contractors were favoured.
“All rules were flouted. Massive mobilisation advance was given to a group of contractors in violation of rules,” he said.