Costs of upcoming dam projects in Maharashtra are constantly being updated and increased.
The Balganga dam on the Pen in Raigad district of Maharashtra was originally estimated to cost `38 crores. Barely one year after work commenced on the project in 2010, the cost of project had increased to `1,220 crores.
The city & industrial development corporation has now appointed a three-member body to look into why the estimates have increased to 150 per cent.
The initial approval of the 39 metre Kondhane dam on the Ulhas river, also in Raigad district, was for `56 crores. This was subsequently revised to 71 metres at an increased cost of `614 crores.
Environmentalist Anjali Damania, a member of the India Against Corruption team, points out that construction work on the Kondhane dam was started without any permissions being sought by the environment ministry, the railway authorities and the Archaeological Survey of India.
A barrage on Purna river in Akola district was first sanctioned for `160 crores but the project cost was later revised by WAPCOs to cost `638 crores.
The Central Water Commission has now come up with its own design which will cost `160 crores less than the WAPCO’s design. The Susari Dam project is reported to cost `202 crores according to the Vasai-Virar city municipal corporation but when they sought a sanction for the funds, the amount had “mysteriously” increased to `27,229 lakh crores according to documents accessed by Mr Damania.
Mr Damania alleges that, “Thirteen major contracts in Thane and Raigad have been given to one contractor making the entire tendering process a farce.”