Thane dam cost hiked by `198cr

In yet another glaring case of irregularity in irrigation projects, the administrative approval for a minor dam in Dahanu taluka of Thane district has been hiked from Rs 2.02 crore to Rs 272.29 crore within two months.

In yet another glaring case of irregularity in irrigation projects, the administrative approval for a minor dam in Dahanu taluka of Thane district has been hiked from Rs 2.02 crore to Rs 272.29 crore within two months.

HT Image

The Susari river project, which includes construction of an earthern dam, was necessitated to provide drinking water (190 million litres) to the Vasai-Virar municipal corporation.

On December 2, 2010, the civic body granted an administrative approval for a project estimated at Rs 202 lakh. However, when the Konkan Irrigation Develop-ment Corporation (KIDC), the implementing agency, issued tenders for the project in February 2011, the cost was hiked to Rs 272.29 crore. The technical sanction for this project came in just one day.

That’s not all. Information obtained under RTI by an India Against Corruption (IAC) volunteer, Anjali Damania, and available with HT, shows that the tendering process was severely flawed. For instance, selected bidder FA Enterprises was given more marks than the total, 20 out of 15, for financial capacity. It was granted a full 100 marks for general experience, though it had no experience of constructing a head regulator gate, required for the project. On the same grounds, 13 marks were deducted in the evaluation process from another bidder.