Rs 235 crore spent on Lower Tapi irrigation project unfruitful: CAG

MUMBAI: Owing to the delayed implementation of the Lower Tapi irrigation project in Jalgaon district, the Comptroller and Auditor General's report 2018 has deemed the entire Rs 235 crore expense on the project to be "unfruitful".
The project was initially approved in 1997 but underwent multiple revisions. The non-finalisation of designs led to frequent extensions for the project, the latest being given upto March 2020.The water resources department could also acquire only 8.6% of the land required in 19 years, the CAG report found.
The report also pointed out that owing to a revised flood study, the design and drawings of the radial gates and stop log gates were required to be revised. As a result, the contractor was asked to stop the work in 2014, by the time nearly 44% of the gate work had been completed.