Mission Kakatiya, the flagship programme of the TRS government aimed at restoring irrigation tanks in the State, is progressing at a snail’s pace contrary to the claims made by the State government.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has observed that the Irrigation Department could complete only 28 per cent of the tanks targeted in three phases.

The mission was to restore 46,000 tanks in a span of five years in five phases. “Three phases were taken up as of August 2017. Only 14 per cent of works were taken up under the phase II, while only 25 per cent of the targeted tanks were taken up in the phase III. None of the tanks got completed as of September 2017,” the CAG said in its report for the 2016-17 on Telangana.

The CAG reviewed implementation of Mission Kakatiya from its launch to March 2017. It test checked works of 145 tanks taken up with ₹96.40 crore in 15 divisions.

The CAG also questioned the extent of ayacut created under the plan. “The mission was to bring back 10 lakh acres of ‘gap ayacut’. However, the audit observed that there was no mention of details of such gap ayacut in the estimates of individual works,” the report said.

The government claimed that 5.6 lakh acres of ayacut was established. “But the reply was not supported by any evidence,” it contended. The CAG report also found fault with regard to removal of silt from the tanks. It differed with the State’s argument that there were no takers for the silt in some cases. “The reply was not acceptable as the guidelines prescribed that priority was to be given to tanks where farmers agreed to take the silt,” it said.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW