RTI query reveals only 53,275ha irrigation potential created by Gosikhurd

Nagpur: A plaque stands tall at the Gosikhurd dam site, mentioning that it was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi along with Governor Brahmanand Reddy and chief minister Shankarrao Chavan on April 22, 1988. Some 28 years down the line, the Gosikhurd Indira Sagar project, supposed to irrigate 2.5 lakh hectares, has failed to bring water to even a quarter of the area.
In reply to a RTI query by Abhay Kolarkar, the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) had admitted that it has only created “potential” to irrigate 53,275 hectares as yet. The actual land brought under irrigation is far lesser.
Work on the biggest irrigation projects in Maharashtra, accorded national status by the centre, was started in February 1981. It got a new lease of life after Delhi-based Central Water Commission’s (CWC) Technical Advisory Committee granted an approval for revised grant of Rs7,777.82 crore on February 27, 2008.
The mega project is a classic example of corruption, politician-contractor nexus, and government apathy to release funds in time, that led to it becoming a white elephant. All this led to its cost escalating to a whopping Rs18,494 crore from the original estimate of Rs372.22 crore.
The RTI reply filed by assistant superintendent engineer of Gosikhurd project MP Komalkar states that as per CWC’s recommendations the project was supposed to be complete by 2014, and had irrigation potential of about 2.5 lakh hectares. It was planned to bring 1.90 lakh hectares under irrigation and be the harbinger of change and usher in a green revolution in parched Vidarbha region. With the project in doldrums, the region has instead gained notoriety for the large number of its farmers committing suicides due to continuous crop failure, droughts and mounting debt.
Komalkar, also the public information officer for the project, said that the project cost was revised thrice. The first revised estimate, also known as ‘Suprama’ in local parlance, was carried out on July 3, 1999, where the cost was pegged at Rs2,091.13 crore. The second was submitted on November 1, 2007, where the cost escalated to Rs5,659.10 crore while in the third one, its cost is proposed at Rs18,494 crore as per 2013-14 estimates.
So far, around Rs10,000 crores have been spent on it, but the project has hardly benefited the farming community.
The project comprises six lift irrigation schemes (LIS) and a barrage called Asolamendha, besides the right and left bank canals. Of the six LIS, three — Mokhabardi, Akot and Gosi, have failed to irrigate even a single inch of land till date. Even work on right and left bank canals is way behind schedule. Consequently, the project has a balance irrigation potential of 1.97 lakh hectares. The reply also indicates that work is going on at a snail’s pace at the dam, even after the new government took over in 2014.
The senior RTI activist had also sought information about action taken against corrupt officials due to whom the project is still incomplete. However, assistant chief engineer at project MB Warhadpande expressed inability to give this data, saying the government was acting against them and entire exercise was being kept ‘confidential’. He, however, admitted that till date the government hadn’t acted against even a single contractor for lapses and substandard construction.