MAHARASHTRA IRRIGATION

SCAM

Introduction and Overview■ Maharashtra Irrigation Scam (MIS) - The scam involves 32 projects in the

under-developed Vidarbha region alone while the rest are in Konkan and north Maharashtra

■ The Rs 35,000-crore irrigation scam in Maharashtra came to light after the Economic Survey’s observation that though Rs 70,000 crore had been spent on various projects in the last decade, the state’s irrigation potential had increased only 0.1%

■ It has been alleged that the scam involves inviting tenders at higher cost and involves many political bosses, irrigation officials and contractors

■ The irrigation portfolio has been held by the NCP since 1999, by Ajit Pawar till 2009 and after that by Sunil Tatkare

■ In 2009, when Ajit Pawar was state irrigation minister, he cleared 32 irrigation projects worth Rs 20,000 – Rs 25,000 crore without allegedly going through the procedures 

■ Clearances to projects include Krishna Valley Development Corporation in Western Maharashtra with seven dams

■ After the sanctioning, the cost of projects were increased and received approvals. Just in Vidharba, the cost of 38 projects were increased by 300% between June and August

■ In 2012, chief engineer in Irrigation Department Vijay Pandhare wrote a letter to Secretary, Irrigation where he alleged that the modus operandi included sanctioning projects at lower cost and then escalating it systematically under pretext of increase in height or widening of reservoir

 Maharashtra Irrigation Scam whistle-blower Vijay Pandhare

joins AAP

■ The Aam Aadmi Party got a boost in Maharashtra with Vijay Pandhare, former bureaucrat and whistle-blower in the multi-billion rupees irrigation scam, joining the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit. (December 2013)

■ Last year, Pandhare wrote letters to the state government which led to the embarrassing resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, whom he had indirectly indicted in the over Rs.20,000-crore irrigation scam. Pawar held the state irrigation portfolio between 1999-2009 (as of 2014)

Further probing into MIS■ The Aam Aadmi Party on demanded a CBI probe into 88 undated tenders in the

register maintained by the Water Resources Department during the Cong-NCP rule. The party also accused the Devendra Fadnavis government of not conducting an impartial probe in a Rs 76,000-crore irrigation scam.

■ Vijay Pandhare, said the tenders were recorded without specific dates. “The Devendra Fadnavis government is yet to act on the recommendations,” Mr Pandhare said at a press conference. (Jan 2016)

■ Three BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, visited Baramati for different programmes, which were hosted by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his family

■ Allegations that the party had levelled against NCP ministers Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare, both former ministers, had stuck eventually forcing the previous government to constitute the Madhav Chitale committee. With elections to the Mumbai municipal corporation just a year away, the party appears to have fallen back on its old gameplan with the target this time being the CM and the BJP

■ After Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena formed government in Maharashtra, the state government initiated inquiries into alleged irregularities in 12 irrigation projects(2014-15)

Array of Investigations lead the scam

■ No progress in Maharashtra irrigation scam probe, NGO wants HC to hand it over to CBI (Feb 2016)

■ ACB files its second FIR in Maharashtra irrigation scam (March 2016)■ Maharashtra Irrigation scam: Former KIDC officials, contractor named in FIR - The Kalu

irrigation project was one of the 13 projects that the state government had asked the ACB to probe in January 2015 (June 2016)

■ A four-member panel of engineers of the water resources department set up in February to probe projects related to the multi-crore irrigation scam submitted its report to the state government on August 9, confirming yet again the massive scale of irregularities in granting sanctions and planning of such projects. This is the fifth probe into the multi-crore irrigation scam over the past decade. (August 2016)

■ The panel, led by RV Panse, chief engineer with hydro power projects and quality control cell, Pune, was set up based on the interim directions issued by the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Pradeep Purandare, retired associate professor from the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI). The PIL had sought a probe into the 189 projects cleared between 2007 and 2013, in the absence of a mandated integrated state water plan.

BRIEFCASE1. Ajit Pawar named in multi-crore irrigation scam chargesheet2. Chargesheet terms tender process of the Balganga Project as completely

suspicious3. ACB had apparently grilled Ajit Pawar for two hours After NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has now

named former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in the multi-crore irrigation scam chargesheet

The Thane Anti-Corruption Bureau on Monday had filed a 30,000-page chargesheet in multi-crore Balganga irrigation project scam in Raigad. Though Ajit Pawar's name is not in the list 10 persons allegedly involved in the irregularities during the proposed construction of Balganga Dam, the chargesheet has sought further permission to probe the deals that directly involves Ajit Pawar

■ The chargesheet has also termed the tender process for survey of the Balganga Project as "completely suspicious" and calls for further probe

■ The chargesheet reads, "The tender process worth 52,28,226 of allotting survey work to Pioneer Foundation is completely suspicious and needs to be probed."

Conclusion■ Maharashtra Irrigation Scam is a big loophole on the regularities that our

government functions on■ It’s been over a decade since the scam is scrutinized and is under the scanner■ With the intervention of media and prominent politicians too, there is no

concrete dissection to the whole matter■ With no sigh of relief to the farmers on this bit as of now, left with no financial

viability from the government. The probing on the matter remains to be a highly volatile

■ The high profile conspiracy claims to remain a time testing ordeal for the state of Maharashtra

■ With the case under High Court for quite sometime now, hope the justice is served in time to save thousands of farmers

Bibliography

■ Hindustan Times■ The Times Of India epaper■ The Indian Express epaper■ Wikipedia■ Wordpress.com ■ Firstpostmedia.com

THANK YOUPresentation made by – Nikita Sharma

TYBMM (Journalism)