Fadnavis: Many hits, some misses

In crisis-ridden Maharashtra, the CM's war room has delivered with mixed results

In April 2015, soon after he took charge, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis set up a war room to handle and push various infrastructure projects in the state on a war footing. Nobody needed to reinforce the urgency - both Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra were facing a mini crisis - the former of infrastructure creaking under the load of an ever-increasing influx of people from all parts of India, and the state facing an agrarian crisis - with several farmer suicides - that is yet to abate.

To tackle the former, the CM set up the war room, hired young interns and people from outside the bureaucracy, and put in their hands the job of getting several projects that had been languishing forever started.

A bit over a year has passed and the war room does have some successes to its credit. To start with, the work order for Metro 3 underground line has finally been issued. Land for the project - always one of the biggest hurdles for all projects - was finally cleared with the blessings of the state assembly including acquiring some land at the Race course in Mahalaxmi, a Herculean task by all accounts. The contractor for the project is now in place. Praveen Pardeshi, the principal secretary to the CM says that the pilot can now afford to fall asleep as the aircraft is on "auto pilot". He expects the first rail journey on this track - of around 6-7 kilometres - to see the light of day by December 2018. Construction is expected to begin in October 2016. On the drawing board but still a way to go is the Nagpur metro project where the CM seems to be taking a fair amount of interest.

The Bhendi bazar redevelopment is another feather in the cap of both the war room and the trust that is financing and overseeing the development. Transit facilities to accommodate 1700 families and 450-odd commercial establishments in the 16.2 acre area that is to be redeveloped and redesigned are up and running. Construction of the first phase is in full swing.

A step behind but quite advanced is the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) - another old project that has been pulled out of the woodworks - which officials say will see work commence by January 2017. JAICA (the Japanese body that is financing the project) has received all clearances from the government and is expected to call for bids in the next 2-3 months.

On a less happy note stands the coastal road project - a project many Mumbaikars argue is no longer relevant - where the final clearance is awaited from the ministry of environment and forests. Bids for design work have been called for but the final work order cannot be issued till the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) blesses it. It had issued a draft notification but nothing since. Fadnavis has sought a meeting with the minister of state for environment and forests in the capital to expedite matters.

It may be a case of war fatigue but the Navi Mumbai airport has run into yet another spot with one of the four main bidders who expressed interest -Hiranandani developers - running into trouble with security clearance from the home ministry. Since the bidder has to be given a chance to submit his bid, a further delay of 2-3 months cannot be ruled out. It is anybody's guess whether the Navi Mumbai airport project - which has been in the making for close to two decades - will wear out the warriors or the other way round.

But above all officials are claiming victory in pushing irrigation projects in the state - the results of which are yet to be felt. Officials says that despite spending Rs 80,000 crore in the past three years on better irrigation for the state, the agrarian crisis stares them in the face because they have failed to complete most large dams and projects. They say there are Rs 1,30,000 crore worth of incomplete irrigation projects in the state. In many cases, dam walls have been constructed but there are no channels for the water to flow.

So, to give a final heave to some large projects, the war room has been activated on this front and is monitoring projects on a minute-to-minute basis. In addition, there is a change in strategy. The state will now put its money into small water harvesting projects and watersheds instead of focusing on mammoth dams. Citing one example, they say there was a dam project that was conceived almost 20 years ago and a total of Rs 8000 crore was spent on it but not a single acre was irrigated. The project has now been revived but will now cost the state Rs 18,000 crore instead of its initial cost estimates that were far lower.

Will a single acre be irrigated or will the next government that comes in revive it yet again at a far more inflated cost ? That's the question Fadnavis has to answer.