BJP says Chavan should bring white paper on irrigation

At a press conference here, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council in the state Vinod Tawde said unease among NCP leaders over Chavan's statement on white paper was very revealing.

The irrigation department has always been held by the NCP since Congress-NCP government came to power in 1999.

Last week, Chavan had promised to bring a white paper on irrigation while expressing concern that despite spending over Rs 70,000 crore in the last 10 years, the state's irrigation capacity had increased by just 0.1 per cent.

However, the NCP was not very pleased with the announcement.

"If Chavan backs out of the announcement, he will have to face Opposition's backlash and we would need to take legal recourse," Tawde said.

He said a white paper will enable the government to find out lacunae in the planning of irrigation policy, throw light on irregularities and prepare a long term strategy to improve the irrigation capacity.

Tawde also demanded a CID probe into the irregularities in irrigation department.