Khadse flings KVDC muck on Cong

"You were in power for last more than four decades but your contribution to the development of the irrigation sector as well as steps for the utilisation of the Krishna waters was almost nil," Khadse accused.

Instead of making constructive suggestions for time-bound utilisation of the Krishna waters as per the Bachawat award, the charges levelled by the Opposition had damaged the image of the State Government, Khadse said. "You are just criticising the programmes and policies of the alliance government, younever offered any suggestion. Even now we are prepared to accept your suggestions for the benefit of the state and early completion of the Rs 7100 crore irrigation projects," Khadse added.

Khadse said though the Bachawat award was passed in 1976, until 1995 the then Congress government made a budgetary provision of less than Rs 2500 crore for the irrigation sector. Had a time-bound programme been chalked out for the irrigation sector, "such a piquant situation" could have been avoided, he observed.

The minister claimed that after the alliance government came to power in March 1995, it had completed a record 190 medium projects and sanctioned more than 2390 plans. "Eighty two per cent of these projects were accepted at a rate much lower than the one quoted in the lowest tender," he added.

Initiating the debate, Congress member Rohidas Patil cited "specific instances" of "corrupt practices resorted to by the alliance government" while awarding the projects. "When Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde washolding the Irrigation portfolio, most of the projects were awarded at a rate much higher than quoted in the tenders. While, during the same period, tenders finalised at the official level were awarded at much lower rates,"Patil claimed. This clearly indicated irregularities in the finalisation of tenders at Munde’s end, he alleged.

Patil demanded that a high-level committee of the members of both Houses of the State Legislature be set up to oversee the KVDC’s functioning.

Endorsing his views, Congress legislator R R Patil alleged that the corporation had not only lost its credibility, but had become bankrupt as it had been unable to pay the contractors. "That is evident from the fact that it received a very poor response to the bonds it floated last month," R R Patil said.