Govt nod for 10 irrigation plans whose cost went up

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has given its approval to 10 irrigation projects in nine districts whose cost has escalated. The projects would bring 1.16 lakh hectares of land under irrigation. The cost escalation of projects has been a controversial issue since the time of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) regime. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has claimed that 173 projects have been approved with revised cost since 2014 by the water resources department.

After controversy over the cost escalation of irrigation projects, the approvals were given to a committee comprising officials. In a latest move, 10 irrigation projects got approval with the revised cost. The projects are Tilari in Sindhudurg, Urdhva Pravara in Nashik, Sangola branch in Solapur, Arjuna in Ratnagiri, Rapapur in Nandurbar, Chinchpani in Jalgaon, Babalad Kopab in Solapur, Soregaon in Solapur, Daribad in Sangli and Pimpalgaon Khand in Ahmednagar, said water resources minister Girish Mahajan.

"We have tried to prioritise the projects to improve the quality of irrigation. The funds were also given to the projects priority wise. Intending to increase speed of the projects, we even carried out the land acquisition process through the direct purchasing method," the minister said.

Since 2014, the state government has managed complete 13 projects but is now aiming to complete 140 in the next two years. The state's irrigation potential increased by 90,000 hectares due to completion of the 13 projects in last two years. About 50,000 farmers have benefit from the projects.

Many projects were pending before the government in 2014 due to cost escalation. The minister said that the total irrigation sector is expected to go up to 40 lakh hectares on the completion of more projects.

The cost escalation of irrigation projects became a very controversial matter during the Congress-NCP regime and the erstwhile government, which faced corruption charges, published a white paper on the projects.

Projects approved

The following projects were approved after cost escalation:
Tilari in Sindhudurg, Urdhva Pravara in Nashik, Sangola branch in Solapur, Arjuna in Ratnagiri, Rapapur in Nandurbar, Chinchpani in Jalgaon, Babalad Kopab in Solapur, Soregaon in Solapur, Daribad in Sangli and Pimpalgaon Khand in Ahmednagar.