Rs 25 Lakh wasted in Jalyukta work

A superintendent agriculture officer from Pune has submitted a report to the government, recommending action against contractors who carried out substandard work under the state’s ambitious ‘Jalyukta Shivar’ scheme. The report says that public funds to the tune of over '25 lakh have been wasted as work carried out by the contractors does not fulfil any of the

criteria set under the scheme.Documents available with The Asian Age reveal that in Valhe village, Saswad tehsil, Pune, all seven mati nala bunds are of substandard quality and constructions have come up in the wrong places. Superintendent agriculture officer Vinay Kumar Awate inspected the bund on June 19 this year. Mr Awate told this newspaper that he had inspected all sites of the bund only to find rules violated during construction and selection of the site. “I have submitted my report to the director of the agriculture department and it is up to them to decide what action should be taken against the concerned persons,” he said.

In his report submitted on June 25, Mr Awate said not a single bund fulfilled criteria and, hence, the government funds of '25,53,662 had been wasted. At one of the sites, the border of a field was shown as a bund and the contractor even tried to prove that there was a water stream. The report further stated that the estimate — prepared without any site visits — had been approved by government officers. Mr Awate recommended recovering the amount from the agriculture assistant, supervisor, circle officer and tehsil agriculture officer as they were responsible for misuse of state funds. Neither water conservation minister Pankaja Munde nor CM Devendra Fadnavis replied to this correspondent’s text messages on the matter.

Jalayukta Shivar is the CM’s pet project and he has said it can be a game changer in solving water problems of drought-prone areas and boosting agriculture in the state. The scheme has been lauded by the likes of social activist Anna Hazare and Magsaysay Award winner Prof Rajendra Singh.