Chitale committee confirms irrigation scam in Maha, says BJP

The Madhav Chitale committee, appointed by Maharashtra government to probe the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam, has substantiated the accusation that in spite of a huge expenditure irrigation potential increased by just 0.1 per cent in the last decade, BJP said here today.
The committee was set up in December 2012 to study the escalation of costs at various projects. Its report was submitted to the government in March this year.
The report, likely to be tabled in the state legislature tomorrow, was leaked by BJP MLA Devendra Phadanvis today.
Phadanvis, speaking in the Assembly during a debate today, alleged that committee has said that though as per the official data the state achieved irrigation potential of 2.43 lakh hectares, in reality 2.31 lakh hectares of this is of no use for practical purposes.

The report attributes the cost escalation to irregularities in the administrative approvals, he claimed.
According to him, the report notes that approvals were granted without finalising the design of the projects, which resulted in massive cost escalations, and this was a major flaw in the process.
Wherever major changes have been made to the initial administrative approval, a strict action should be taken against the chief engineer who gave the initial approval, the committee says, according to Phadanvis.