Irrigation scam: Water department view could decide Ajit Pawar’s fate

MUMBAI: What role did former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar play in commissioning and granting approvals for the Balganga dam project in Raigad that has cost the

MUMBAI: What role did former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar play in commissioning and granting approvals for the Balganga dam project in Raigad that has cost the state exchequer a loss of Rs1,105 crore? And did the former minister’s decisions follow the rules?

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These are the key questions before the anti-corruption bureau (ACB), in its probe against Pawar in the Balganga dam. Pawar was the water resources minister when the project was cleared.

The investigators have now asked the state’s water resources department to clarify its rules of business, specifically the way in which the files were routed. The water resources department’s reply could decide the action to be taken against Pawar.

The ACB charge sheet accessed by HT tells a sordid story of how public money has been swindled in the construction of the dam. But while it nails contractors and officials, it has stopped short of linking the irregularities to Pawar.

“Before making charges against such a big man, we have to be clear that they will stand legal scrutiny. We wrote a letter on July 27 to the water resources department seeking its opinion on government rules, to probe if the policy decisions taken by Pawar were in line with existing norms and his powers or can be construed as misuse of position,’’ said an investigator associated with the case.

Depending on the reply, the ACB will probe further and file supplementary charges. The specific areas where Pawar’s role is being probed include updating tender cost by 40% and granting a Rs25 crore mobilisation advance to the contractor. The ACB has tagged the total loss to state exchequer because of the Balganga project at Rs1,105 crore.

According to the ACB charge sheet, Pawar had cleared the mobilisation advance, even though the tender conditions had expressly said this was not allowed and an earlier attempt by the contractor to get this advance had been turned down. This file was moved from the executive director of Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC) to the minister, without routing it to the water resources secretary, the charge sheet said.

Pawar had approved updating the tender cost by 40% after the bids had been opened from Rs353 crore to Rs495 crore. By rules, any cost escalation more than 15% has to be cleared by a committee of officials, including water resources, planning and finance secretaries.

Pawar had also chaired the meeting on January 28, 2009, to commission the Balganga project and directed KIDC officials to prepare tender estimates, the ACB charge sheet said.

The water resources department has so far not replied to the ACB.