Parrikar admits Tillari canal work is 'substandard'

PORVORIM: Chief minister Manohar Parrikar said that irrigation projects in the state have become a hub for corruption. Parrikar also said that the quality of work on the Tillari canal in Maharashtra is poorer than Goa.
"The canal in Maharashtra is so weak that one can bring it down with a kick literally," Parrikar said, while replying to a question by opposition leader Pratapsingh Rane
Parrikar said that the work in Goa is also substandard and that the government is exploring the possibility of laying a pipeline to bring the water to Goa.He also said that due to the substandard work there is seepage in the canal.
Rane said that the Tillari project was supposed to be completed by 1992 but now it would be scheduled to be completed by 2015. Fourteen thousand hectares of land will come under irrigation once the Tillari project is completed. So far the state government has spent 1,016crore on the project.
Water resource minister Dayanand Mandrekar said that they will conduct a joint inspection to review the work.
Tivim MLA Kiran Kandolkar demanded inquiry into the substandard work Tillari cannel which leads to seepage.
Sakhali MLA Pramod Sawant demanded that the state government constitute a committee to study whether the Tillari project would benefit the state in the future.