A group of elderly farmers is playing cards at an embankment of the Gosikhurd left bank canal. A TV in their midst shows ‘breaking news’ on the irrigation scam—how a nexus of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) engineers and contractors led to the quality of the left bank canal being compromised, jeopardising the future of the adjoining villages.
Agitated, 65-year-old Laxmikant Bavne, one of the farmers, says, “The government’s decision to probe 45 VIDC engineers is a farce. Those who have made money would never be booked, and the project has already been compromised.” He alleges contractors and engineers who benefited from the cost escalation of the Gosikhurd irrigation dam have also made a fortune through the shoddy construction of canals.
Lately, the left bank canal has been in the news for cracks in the surface, even before water was discharged from the multi-crore Gosikhurd project. The project, which saw costs rise from Rs 372 crore to a whopping Rs 7,777.52 crore, is yet to be completed.
Cracks were also discovered in the right bank canal and the Mokhabardi lift irrigation project, part of the Gosikhurd canal network system. The cost of the Mokhabardi lift irrigation project shot up substantially—from a paltry Rs 18.65 crore in March 1996 to Rs 2,148.37 crore. As of August 2011, the net expenditure on the project stood at Rs 723.75 crore. The network of canal systems includes a 99-km right bank canal, a 22.93-km left bank canal and four lift irrigation schemes—Tekepar, Nerla, Ambhora and Mokhabardi. It also includes renovation of the existing Asolamendha tank. It was expected the projects would benefit a large number of farmers, especially those depending on jowar, soyabean and cotton.
Now, however, an organisation of village youth is agitated at the government’s apathy towards lapses in the implementation of the Gosikhurd irrigation projects and the canal network system. A visibly agitated Ramesh Suryavanshi, one of those involved with the organisation, shows various documents, which he claims indicate how the Gosikhurd irrigation project and the left and right canals have been mired in controversy since the beginning. “Contractors, VIDC engineers and political bosses had made money, but villagers continue to be at a loss,” he says, alleging the government’s cost of irrigating a hectare stood at Rs 9.81 lakh, against Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh mandated by the Central Water Commission.
Shortcomings in the construction of the Gosikhurd left and right bank canals, as well as those in the lift irrigation schemes, haven’t escaped the government’s attention. Two years earlier, repeated representations by villagers and non-government organisations had prompted the state government to constitute the H T Mendhegiri committee to probe the allegations. In its report, the panel observed the construction of the left bank canal was sub-standard, recommending it be rebuilt. It added there were major lapses by the civil contractors involved in the project.
VIDC records show Sreenevasa Construction and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator M G Bhangadiya were the contractors who had bagged major works on the left bank canal. Shakti Kumar M Sancheti, a group company associated with BJP member of Parliament Ajay Sancheti, and S N Thakkar Construction had received two contracts worth Rs 310.63 crore for concrete lining and various construction work at the right bank canal.
Another committee, headed by Nandkumar Wadnere, had found conditions relating to the payment for concrete lining of the Gosikhurd canal were not entirely met. Norms relating to payments after quality test results, especially in the case of the Gosikhurd left bank canal, were also not adhered to. Also, adequate quality tests were not conducted.
VIDC had decided to carry out concrete lining of the left bank main canal for 11.13 to 22.93 km, at a cost of Rs 20.24 crore. However, it was executed as unlined, and without studying the lining of the initial of 1 km to 11.13 km. This, the Mendhegiri committe said, was a violation of government orders issued on February 18, 1995.
In a petition to the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High court, non-government organisation Jan Manch referred to observations by the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)’s report on sub-standard construction in the left bank canal. “The decision to allot cement concrete lining work was taken without the approval of the Central Designs Organisation, resulting in wasteful expenditure of Rs 51.49 crore. Moreover, the unwanted work executed was of sub-standard quality,” CAG had said in a report.
Jan Manch also said works were awarded without calling for fresh tenders and, therefore, the process should be investigated.
VIDC officials at the site didn’t comment.
Now, villagers are anxiously waiting for rebuilding of the canals, as recommended by the Mendhegiri committee.
They insist contractors should bear all costs and the government should put in place a mechanism to avoid cost escalation and ensure quality is not compromised.
This is the second of a five-part series on what went wrong in Maharashtra