Pune:
Vijay Pandhare, the man who blew the lid off Maharashtra's 70,000 crore irrigation scam, has suggested the government to immediately cancel all projects which are yet to complete even 25 per cent of their work. Mr Pandhare claims the state will be able to save a whopping Rs 42,000 crore by doing so.
The whistleblower, whose letter to the chief minister exposed the scam leading to the resignation of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, said, "'That is the only way left now to bring a curb on wasteful expenditure."
Without taking name of any prominent leader, the chief engineer in charge of safety and research of the irrigation department said that his department was in the hands of selfish and corrupt ministers and they should be removed. He alleged that public money is being wasted under the garb of executing big projects which are nothing but sheer loot. Mr Pandhare has been provided with security cover after Mr Pawar's resignation.
Speaking at a seminar in Pune, the chief engineer claimed that in the last 15 years the state government has spent over one lakh crore rupees over such projects, but has not been able to bring the desired land percentage under irrigation. He alleged it was only because of the corrupt and selfish attitude of the people heading the irrigation department.
Mr Pandhare was speaking at a seminar in Pune to review irrigation policies in Maharashtra. Social activists Medha Patkar, Vishwambhar Chaudhari and other prominent social activists were present.
Mr Pandhare had earlier written to Governor K Sankaranarayanan and Mr Chavan, drawing their attention to the "poor quality" of irrigation projects, inflated budget and irregularities in purchase of materials.