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Major irrigation projects nowhere near completion, no work undertaken in 11 of total 16: CAG

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Major irrigation projects nowhere near completion, no work undertaken in 11 of total 16: CAG

Modi government’s promises of boosting farm sector and doubling farm income aside, the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) revealed that sixteen major multi-purpose water projects, taken up on an expeditious basis about a decade ago, are nowhere near completion, with no work being undertaken in as many as 11 projects.

Out of the 16 projects, undertaken under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) in February 2008, only five projects with estimated irrigation potential of 25.10 lakh hectares were under implementation and even these projects suffer from 8 to 99 per cent shortfall in physical progress, the CAG said, according to a report on the website of SANDRP (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People).

The remaining 11 projects with estimated irrigation potential of 10.48 lakh hectares are yet to commence and are at different stages of approval.

While the envisaged irrigation potential of the ongoing projects was 25.1 lakh hectares, what has been realised so far was just 5.36 lakh hectares, a mere 21 per cent, the CAG report said.

Similarly, though the projects were meant to generate 1,236.5 MW of electricity and supply 672.585 million cubic metre of drinking water, not even a drop of drinking water or a single unit of electricity was made available so far.

All 16 major water resource development and irrigation projects “were languishing due to various constraints and hurdles including land acquisition, inter-State coordination, financial constraints and issues relating to rehabilitation and re-settlement of affected population,” the CAG said.

The projects that the CAG reviewed were Indira Sagar Polavaram Project in Andhra Pradesh, Gosikhurd Irrigation Project in Maharashtra, Shahpur Khandi Dam Project in Punjab, Saryu Nahar Pariyojana in Uttar Pradesh and Teesta Barrage Project in West Bengal.

Pulling up the Ministry of Water Resources for the inordinate delays, the CAG said the initially estimated cost of the five projects was Rs 3,530 crore, which has now escalated by a whopping 2,341 per cent to Rs 86,172 crore. So far, an expenditure of Rs13,299 crore has already been incurred on these projects.

According to the national auditor, the tardy implementation and cost escalation was on account of management failures and deficiencies in terms of non-adherence to the provisions relating to survey and investigations that are essential ingredients for preparation of detailed project reports.

Similarly, administrative delays, poor contract management and lack of monitoring has led to cost escalation of more than Rs 49,800 crore in these national projects undertaken by the Central Govt, says the report.

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Rajasthan election results: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore says BJP will form government with vast number of seats

Rajyavardhan Rathore said the party leadership will announce who will be the chief minister after the results have been declared. He said everything comes at the right time.

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Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said he was confident the BJP will win with huge majority in Rajasthan ahead of counting of votes in Rajasthan. He said the fight today is between the massive governance of Prime minister Narendra Modi and the misgovernance of the Congress party.

The Congress party will try to return to power again. The BJP’s election campaign will be focused on an anti incumbency wave in the state. Rathore said the fact that people of the state had come out in large numbers to vote meant that they wanted to bring a change. According to exit polls the BJP have a slight edge over the ruling Congress party in Rajasthan. He said there won’t be a close contest and the BJP will win the elections with a vast majority.

Rajyavardhan Rathore said the party leadership will announce who will be the chief minister after the results have been declared. He said everything comes at the right time. He said once the results are out the party leadership will take the decision at the right time.

The campaign has been intense on both sides. The BJP had pulled all stops in line with an established election template as senior ministers had been deployed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress had followed a grassroots campaign with frequent appearances by its central leaders.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said he was confident that he had beaten the jinx on the fortunes of the party in power. The BJP rode high on the trend and the power of brand Modi. Eight of the nine exit polls gave the BJP a comfortable, if not a strong victory. The aggregrate indicated that the BJP may get 104 seats and Congress 86. But like the difference in the price of cooking gas they are offering- The Congress party – Rs 500 and the BJP’s Rs 450: the gap is marginal.

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ED raids Punjab Congress leaders Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Sangat Singh Giljian in forest scam linked money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate asserted that during the search operations, various incriminating documents, mobile phones/digital devices have been seized

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The Enforcement Directorate recently conducted raids against two former Punjab forest ministers and Congress leaders Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Sangat Singh Giljian and others in relation to an alleged forest-scam linked money laundering investigation.  

Issuing a statement on Friday, the Enforcement Directorate said that its investigation pertains to charges of bribery in the state forest department against the issuance of a permit for tree felling and for transfer and posting in the department, among some other allegations. 

The ED raids were carried out on November 30 in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi at the residential premises of Dharamsot, Giljian, their associates, forest officers and some private individuals. The agency reportedly searched fourteen locations under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, has been a five-time MLA and he was arrested earlier this year by the Punjab Vigilance bureau as part of a case linked to alleged possession of disproportionate assets. In his three-year tenure as forest minister, Dharamsot collected ₹1 crore in lieu of issuance of permits for cutting khair trees through his OSD. Sangat Singh Giljian has been an MLA from the Urmar seat in Hoshiarpur district.

The Enforcement Directorate said that the money laundering case was filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and stems from an FIR of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau.

The nodal agency mentioned that the first information report pertains to alleged irregularities in the forest department and allegations of taking bribes by the concerned ministers and officers of the department against the issuance of permits for felling of Khair trees, transfer/posting in the department, issuance of NOC from the department and purchase of tree guards.

In addition, the Enforcement Directorate asserted that during the search operations, various incriminating documents, mobile phones/digital devices have been seized which, prima facie, reveal suspicious transactions involving persons who are under investigation. 

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Jharkhand government puts hospitals on alert amid respiratory infection outbreak in China

The district administration are also asked to assess the availability of oxygen and the supply chain for refilling along with other necessary equipment.

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Amid a respiratory infection outbreak in China, the Jharkhand government has put its hospitals on alert, directing them for surveillance, preventive measures and testing of respiratory illness. The additional chief secretary of health Arun Kumar Singh directed the district administrations to remain prepared and keep a continuous vigil on the situation.  

In a letter to the district magistrate, Arun Kumar Singh stated that in view of the recently reported surge in respiratory illness, particularly in children in Northern China, in the recent weeks, there is an urgent need to keep a constant vigil, monitor trends of cases and quickly respond to any emerging public health. He added that considering the ongoing influenza, there might be an increase in respiratory illness cases.

He mentioned that this is predominantly attributed to usual causes like Influenza strain (H1N1/H3N2/H5N1/H9N2 etc.), mycoplasma pneumonia, SARS-CoV-2, etc. He further remarked that in order to reduce the incidence of respiratory diseases along with the current scenario of unusual causes of respiratory diseases in children or any unexpected clinical manifestations, there is a need to increase the surveillance and remain vigilant and to monitor the continuously changing nature of the virus, including respiratory pathogen (H1N1, H3N2 etc) and evolution of SARS CoV-2 variants.

The additional chief secretary of health further directed the officials to strengthen the flu and respiratory clinics in the medical colleges, district hospitals, and health centres. He asserted that the departments of microbiology at RIMS-Ranchi and Mahatma Gandhi Medical College in Jamshedpur have been made sentinel sites for sending the suspected samples.    

Reportedly, the district administrations have also been asked to ascertain that the health facilities, including private hospitals, report all suspected cases. In addition, they were also asked to assess the availability of oxygen and the supply chain for refilling along with other necessary equipment. The district administrations were also asked to ensure mock drills for emergency circumstances, as per the officials.

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