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Water minister Jayant Patil hints at probe into Jalyukt Shivar’s inquiry
There are many complaints about the Jalyukta Shivar scheme. The works that have happened under this scheme are not strong enough, Patil said
After reversing various decisions of the previous Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) government, water resources minister Jayant Patil has hinted at ordering a probe into former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s pet scheme “ Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan “.
Delivering a lecture at Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce, Patil said, “There are many complaints about the Jalyukta Shivar scheme. The works that have happened under this scheme are not strong enough. There has been corruption at some places. The previous government claimed that 72 TMC (Thousand Metre Cubit feet) water storage capacity was created under this scheme which is false. People know this quite well.”
He said, even as an opposition party, the NCP had demanded an inquiry of this scheme. “I am not aware of any such instruction by Fadnavis,”Patil said.
In 2016, the Maharashtra government had launched a water conservation scheme called Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019. The project involved deepening and widening of streams, construction of cement and earthen check dams, work on nullahs and digging of farm ponds to make 5,000 villages free of water scarcity every year.
Fadnavis had been closely monitoring this scheme and had been citing it as an example during his speeches as one of the achievements of his government. Recently, he had warned the new Maharashtra Vikas Agadhi (MVA) government that the BJP will start state-wide agitations if the new government this scheme.
The first phase of the scheme ended on December 31, 2019 and the Maharashtra government did not give an extension or make any new provision for this scheme, irrigation department officials said.
