Dam project shrinks, but cost soars
Mumbai: Forget skeletons, a criminal probe into the functioning of the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC) may reveal an entire graveyard.
The Chenara minor dam project in state water resources minister Sunil Tatkare’s bastion, Roha in Raigad district, reveals shocking instances of how officials shifted the goal post several times to push it through. The project was inaugurated by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in October, 2011. Documents accessed by TOI show the project was initially planned to irrigate 1,440 hectares, but subsequently reduced to 250 hectares when officials realized that permissions would be difficult to get. The dam’s height, which was fixed at 44.20m, was shortened to 28.95m.