State Govt accords priority to irrigation projects in backlog, Naxal-affected areas



* Officials asked not to start the work in non-forest areas also if a project requires forest land and has not received final environmental clearance 

Staff Reporter 
Whether to accord priorities to completion of irrigation projects keeping in mind only finance component, or considering the larger objective of balanced development of various regions? This was the question before the State Government. After giving a deeper thought to various aspects involved, the State Government has now decided to accord priority to completion of irrigation projects in backlog regions, tribal-dominated, and Naxal-affected areas. 
As many as 403 irrigation projects are ‘under-construction’ across the State. Special Inquiry Team (SIT) headed by eminent water expert Dr Madhavrao Chitaley had submitted its report to the State Government on multi-crore irrigation scam. In the report, the SIT had made certain recommendations including prioritisation of irrigation projects for completion, keeping the projects ‘suspended’ if those are at primary stages, etc. 
The SIT had also recommended completion of projects that were necessary to remove backlog, and those in tribal-dominated and Naxal-affected areas. However, the previous Government under Congress-NCP kept the recommendations regarding projects in backlog, tribal-dominated, or Naxal-affected areas on the back-burner. Now, the State Government under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has considered these recommendations to set priorities. 
Water Resources Department (WRD) has issued guidelines in this regard on Tuesday. “Though it is financially appropriate to accord priority to projects nearing completion, it is essential to complete projects in backlog areas considering the balanced regional development. Hence, keeping in mind the State’s financial resources, available manpower, and the Governor’s directives on balanced regional development, the guidelines are being issued,” it is stated in the guidelines. 
Apart from according priority to completion of irrigation projects in areas having developmental backlog, tribal-dominated, and Naxal-affected ones, the fresh guidelines of WRD states that the under-construction minor irrigation projects should be completed on priority. Large and medium projects in progress should be completed in the order of priority if the works completed so far are 75 per cent and 50 per cent or above, of total works involved. Among these also, priority will be accorded to projects in drought-prone areas. In certain cases, if less than 50 per cent works have been completed so far, decision to divert financial resources should be taken considering specific conditions. However, the decision in this regard will be taken by a three-member committee comprising Principal Secretaries of Finance, Planning, and Water Resources Departments. 
An important guideline is that the works in non-forest areas also should not be started if a project requires forest area and has not received final environmental clearance. This will avoid unfruitful expenditure, in case final environmental clearance takes years and structures in non-forest areas are rendered useless by that time. 
In an effort to streamline the functioning of WRD, the Government has asked the officials to prepare a ‘project management software tool’ to keep tab on every stage and process in project completion chart, resources required, requirement of funds, time-table to be followed, etc. In this regard, Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute (MERI) has been assigned the task of conducting necessary training programme for officials. For projects having capacity to irrigate 1 lakh hectare or more land, project management consultants will have to be appointed henceforth. 


(08-09-15) 

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