`ACB Lax In Mega Scam'
`Forged' documents furnished by an irrigation contractor to procure contracts over Rs 1,000 crore across drought-prone Vidarbha are among the 7,000 pages of “documentary evidence'' submitted to the state anticorruption bureau (ACB) probing the irrigation scam.
These contracts were awarded during the tenure of the then state water resources minister Ajit Pawar, who had briefly resigned following a series of exposes by TOI in 2012. The ACB commenced investigations early this year, but has not filed a single FIR so far. Neither has it summoned politicians allegedly involved in this mega scam.
“We have received voluminous documents and are currently investigating two of the 30 work tenders pertaining to the Gosikhurd National Irrigation Project,'' said Rajeev Jain, superintendent of police (ACB), Nagpur.
Jain said the two projects where charges of malpractices are serious, are works involving the left bank canal (a 12-km portion) of Gosikhurd and the Mokhabardi lift irrigation scheme contract. The real inquiry be gan about a month ago. We already summoned and re corded statements of several people including the contractors,'' Jain told TOI.
The IPS officer said it took a long time for the ACB to obtain documents from the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC). “They were reluctant to hand over the papers, but we finally managed to get them,'' he added.
But most of the documents were procured under the Right to Information Act from irrigation offices in Nagpur, Chandrapur, Amravati and Akola districts over five months by Nagpur-based NGO Janmanch.The NGO had filed a PIL in 2012 asking the court for a criminal investigation. Later, the BJP state government directed the ACB to conduct an open inquiry against Pawar and Sunil Tat kare, the two NCP leaders who presided over the water resources department.
The papers handed over to the ACB by Janmanch last February include serious charges of manipulation against the VIDC while awarding the Mokhabardi lift irrigation scheme contract. The ACB is now probing how VIDC tweaked the original estimated tender cost after receiving the bids.
The contractor showed one of his firms having no experience in executing irrigation projects, as qualified to do the work. There were just three bidders for this contract, of which two (D Thakkar Constructions and S N Thakkar Constructions) were allegedly linked to each other. They were shadow firms of each other and belonged to the same family .
Interestingly, the deposit money of the third firm in the fray for the contract, Srinivasa Construction, was paid from the bank account of D Thakkar Constructions.
When the tenders were opened, employees of D Thak kar Constructions represented as staff of S N Thakkar Constructions. The work sites of S N Thakkar Constructions were also supervised by directors and personnel of D Thakkar Constructions, reveal official documents.
Tender documents submit ed by S N Thakkar Construc ions were signed by a director, who is also on the board of D.Thakkar Constructions.“There was no element of secrecy during bidding between wo supposedly competing irms,'' said the complaint based on official documents. It s also alleged that the contrac or forged certificates from var ous departments to prove its past work experience.
“The successful bidder, Ms RJ Shah-D Thakkar Construc ions, did not have adequate bid capacity to be eligible for the ender. The evaluation commit ee of VIDC deviated from the stipulated condition and al ered them fraudulently to se ect the contractor wrongfully ,'' said the complaint. “Our complaint is so exhaustive that the ACB has only to authenticate he documents. But the agency seems to be dragging its feet,'' said Janmanch president and advocate Anil Kilor.
So far, the ACB has not sum moned the then water resources minister Ajit Pawar and his successor Sunil Tatkare for questioning. Kilor said the NGO may move court again if the investigations do not make any headway . “The ACB has failed to file a single FIR till date against officials, contractors and ministers involved,'' he added.
The alleged malpractices involve awarding contracts for the Gosikhurd National Irrigation Project near Nagpur, which commenced over three decades ago at a cost of Rs 372 crore. The project cost has now officially shot up to a mind-boggling Rs 18,000 crore. Already over Rs 7,700 crore has been splurged so far. But the canal distribution system, which was supposed to carry water to the fields, is mostly incomplete, leaving farmers in this drought-prone region, high and dry . There are complaints that even the completed canals have been shoddily constructed.
Ajit Pawar `deliberately' overruled all caution, needs to be probed immediately: Complaint
Two months ago, the ACB sent a questionnaire to Ajit Pawar as part of its ongoing probe into the irrigation scam. Sources said Pawar had sent a written reply to the agency, defending his role during his tenure as water resources minister. A detailed complaint was submitted by NGO Janmanch to the ACB against Pawar and former executive director of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation DP Shirke for `deliberate imposition of faulty policies and granting illegal approvals to irrigation projects'.
“Policy matters were deliberately tweaked to circumvent established norms and procedures. The new policy implemented were such that it caused massive loss to the state exchequer,“ it said.
It added that despite timely caution by alert department officers about faulty policy and malpractice, Pawar “deliberately“ overruled all such caution. The complaint said most of the instructions about changes in policy matters were issued by Pawar's private secretary Suresh Jadhav, under instructions from the minister.
“However, when department officers strongly objected, citing violation of established norms, Ajit Pawar intervened directly and issued orders under his own signature.Hence, interrogation of Ajit Pawar and his then private secretary Suresh Jadhav is necessary,“ said the complaint.
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