CAG detects major lacunae in minor irrigation work

Idle investment on incomplete works, delays due to land disputes, violation of established quality controls, time and cost overruns, shortfall in creation of irrigation potential and under-utilisation of created irrigation potential.

While Maharashtra grapples with the political, economic and social fallout of alleged irregularities in execution of irrigation works by the water resources department, where the irrigation potential increased by just 0.1% despite spending Rs70,000 crore in a decade, major lacunae have been detected in minor irrigation (MI) works executed by zilla parishads.

This was revealed in a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on local bodies for the year that ended on March 31, 2014. Tabled in the state legislature's recently concluded monsoon session, MI works are those which can be completed in a short span of time and start giving irrigation benefits quickly to short patches of land. They include construction of storage tanks, barrages, land drainage schemes, tube-wells, small lift irrigation schemes, new wells and pumping sets. MI works individually irrigating 101 hectare or less are executed by zilla parishads while those irrigating more are executed by the state's water resources department.

The audit selected nine out of 33 zilla parishads where 3,623 works valuing Rs360.85 crore or less have been completed and irrigation potential of 34,122 hectare has been created, while 1,069 works worth Rs104.38 crore with irrigation potential of 12,260.19 hectare were in progress as on March 2014. The audit scrutinised 449 out of the 4,692 MI works completed and underway.

"The minor irrigation divisions of ZPs took up MI works without preparing any long-term district-wise master plans in an ad-hoc manner, on the basis of demands received from public representatives/gram panchayats. There were significant time and cost overruns in execution of MI works by the nine selected ZPs. A number of MI works were taken up without computing benefit cost ratio and works awarded as early as April 1999 to February 2011 remained incomplete as of March 2015 despite incurring substantial expenditure," the report said.

It observed that the conditions of the contract were not adhered to and payments were made by executive engineers in Nashik and Thane to contractors executing MI works without obtaining reports regarding testing of material during the execution of the works. The CAG also red-flagged the shortfall ranging between 76% and 82% in the creation of IP as against the IP envisaged to be created.

"Audit revealed that in four ZPs (Akola, Amravati, Chandrapur and Sangli) the IP utilised against the IP created was drastically low and ranged between 6% and 19% during 2009-14," it said, while adding that the rural development and water conservation department had acknowledged that quality control mechanisms in ZPs to monitor the implementation of MU works was non-existent. Four zilla parishads (Aurangabad, Chandrapur, Nashik and Thane) had no internal audit wings.

The CAG audit also detected unfruitful expenditure, diversion of funds and excess expenditure over the budget.

In 2012, the state's economic survey said irrigation in Maharashtra had risen by just 0.1% to 17.9% from 2001 to 2010 despite Rs 70,000 crore being spent. Then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan assured a white paper on the issue, leading to confrontation with the NCP and then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

After allegations of alleged corruption in irrigation projects and undue benefits being granted to contractors, Pawar resigned in September 2012 only to be sworn in again two months later. Pawar was the irrigation minister from 1999 to 2010. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has repeatedly pointed to maladministration in the state's irrigation projects.