The state government will need Rs68,000 crore to complete ongoing irrigation projects in the Godavari river basin located in Vidarbha and Marathwada. Currently, there are 626 ongoing projects in both these regions, at the centre of the state’s agrarian crisis. An integrated water plan for the state, first envisaged in a 2005 law, has been more than a decade late. “So far in this basin, across North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha, 4,325 irrigation projects have been completed and 670 are ongoing. We have recommended a go-ahead for 191 ongoing projects and taking up another 94 projects at a later stage,’’ he added.

Source: Hindustan Times July 14, 2017 03:56 UTC