6 officials charged in Kondhane probe

MUMBAI: Four years after allegations of arbitrary cost hikes and corruption in the Kondhane dam in Raigad district opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box in the multi-crore

MUMBAI: Four years after allegations of arbitrary cost hikes and corruption in the Kondhane dam in Raigad district opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box in the multi-crore irrigation scam, the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) filed its FIR in this project.

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This is the third such FIR for the Konkan projects, out of the twelve that are being probed by the agency. The project is in many ways a textbook case of how dams in the state were being commissioned and approved more to benefit contractors than any public interest.

The FIR names six officials from the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC), the implementing agency : DP Shirke, former executive director; BB Patil, former chief engineer; RD Shinde, superintendent engineer; PB Sonawane, former chief engineer; KP Kalukhe, executive engineer, Rajesh Rithe, executive engineer. All except for Rithe have retired, while the former has been suspended. Four of these officials – Rithe, Kalukhe, Shinde and Patil – have also been named in the Balganga FIR. The FIR also names Nisar Khatri, partner at FA Enterprises that had bagged the Kondhane project.

In a first, section 15 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, IPC, which refers to attempt to commit corruption has been invoked as the Kondhane tender was cancelled in 2012, before any funds were given to the contractor, in face of severe allegations. The complaint states the tender process for the dam was rigged by the contractor in connivance of the officials. For instance, FA Enterprises and its parent company FA Constructions bid for the projects as separate entities even though the partners, finances, and resources were shared. The KIDC officials ensured FA Enterprises won the contract by fudging the entire tender evaluation process. The modus operandi of handing over contract to a favoured firm in Kondhane is similar to other projects in Konkan including Kalu and Balganga, says the complaint.

However, the irregularities at the policy level in clearing the project could get the then minister, Sunil Tatkare , so far not named in the FIR, into trouble.

The complaint points out the administrative approval to the project was given on May 19, 2011, on the condition that it’s held back. Despite this, in July, the KIDC officials called for tenders and issued work orders to the contractor. In a month, the height of the dam was increased from 39m to 71m and its cost escalated by Rs272 crore. This approval was given without seeking Revised Administrative Approval and calling for new tenders. The big question is what role Tatkare played in pushing and granting these clearances.

Investigations also show the project was purposely scaled down as a minor one to bypass approvals from the Maharashtra water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) and the directives of the governor on irrigation backlog that had put on hold all medium, major projects except in Vidarbha and Marathwada. In Maharashtra, the governor has special powers under the Constitution to ensure equitable distribution of funds and infrastructure and under these directives that have to be followed by the state.