The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has slammed the state over poor implementation of the Gosikhurd irrigation project, one of the biggest projects in Asia, which resulted in cost escalation from Rs372 crore in 1983 to Rs18,494 crore. Tagged as the national project in 2009, Gosikhurd was planned to create irrigation facilities in dry and backward Vidarbha. The report points at the flaws from the inception of the project as the detailed project report had overlapping of command area. “The Mokhabardi command area was reduced by 7.90km as the canal alignment was falling in the forest area. ACB probing nearly 40 tenders of Gosikhurd project as part of its Vidarbha scamThe Nagpur Police, on February 20, 2018, registered six new offences in the alleged scam pertaining to the irregularities in bidding process in Gosikhurd irrigation project.

Source: Hindustan Times March 29, 2018 03:56 UTC