2011 Press Releases

Tatkare inaugurates dam near Katol

12th Mar 2011

NAGPUR: Water resources minister Sunil Tatkare on Friday performed 'jalpujan' at the Pimpalgaon tank to formally inaugurate the minor irrigation dam in the district. This would provide irrigation to 915 hectares of land across Narkhed, Pardi, Yerla, Parsodi, Kharsoli and Nandori villages in Nagpur district. Food and civil supplies minister Anil Deshmukh presided over the inaugural function.

The earthen dam was constructed at a cost of Rs 49 crore by SN Thakkar Construction Pvt Ltd within five years, said MD Jigar Thakkar. "This became possible because of the cooperation of people from Pimpalgaon and Narkhed," said Thakkar.

The ministers noted that in the backdrop of dismal irrigation facilities in Vidarbha and several irrigation projects lingering incomplete, the Pimpalgaon dam has set an example. The project would mostly benefit orange growers who were for the last few years suffering huge crop loss because of inadequate and irregular rains, and orange orchards were drying up because of excessive heat in summer months.

The dam has a command area of 10.14 square kilometres and submergence area of 228 hectares, while the reservoir would have total capacity of 7.22 million cubic meters. As for the remaining work, the construction of a railway crossing may start soon as the tender process for already begun and the state has given its contribution. The main canal work has been completed and the sub-canal work is likely to be completed by next year, irrigation department executive engineer Prafulchandra Jhapke said.

When planned in 2004, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 20.28 crore, it escalated to Rs 36.86 crore by September 2009 and finally shot up to Rs 49 crore.

Source :- The Times of India

New Mandwa jetty rots, old one crumbles

07th Mar 2011

A new jetty in Mandwa which was constructed by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has been lying unused for eight months, after it emerged that there were some serious flaws in its design.

The jetty does not have a pontoon for passengers to alight and climb, or bollards for the boats to be tied up. A new passenger terminal with a sea-facing VVIP hall at the site lies unused.

The old Mandwa jetty is used by over a lakh people every week and top industrialists like the Tatas, Ambanis, Godrejs, Mallyas and Singhanias who have properties in the Raigad district use it frequently.

The waterway is the fastest way to reach Alibag from Mumbai as it takes around an hour in a catamaran and just 20 minutes in a speedboat or a luxury yacht.

With the new jetty lying incomplete, commuters are forced to use the old jetty which is in a precarious condition with peeling plaster, crumbling columns and bars and heavily corroded iron rods.

The MMB in fact uses a fishing trawler to ferry passengers from the catamarans and private boats to the jetty. As the terminal is still not functional, passengers have to wait in the hot sun for ferries and catamarans.

A water taxi operator said, "Three years ago, a maid working for an influential family died while she trying to hop from their private boat to the jetty. She was crushed between her employer's boat and the fishing boat which acts as a pontoon.

There were proposals given to MMB for a new marina and state of the art jetty, but the government did not act on it.

Some technocrats had also suggested the construction of breakwaters around Mandwa so that it could be used in all seasons.

Two women use the pontoon bridge at the old jetty which, though in tatters, is used by over one lakh people through the week However, given that the job of laying paverblocks too was abandoned, there were little chances that the MMB would drill holes again in the jetty to insert paverblocks, said the technocrat.

Irrigation Minister Sunil Tatkare, also the guardian minister for Raigad district, said, “A jetty is a necessity and not a luxury. If not the jetty, the MMB must at least open the passenger terminal.”

The MMB regional port officer R Naik did not comment on this issue, but deputy engineer Manish Medkar claimed that the bollards had been fixed. “There is some incomplete job for which we have floated tenders and will complete the rest in the next few months,” he said.

Source :- Mumbai Mirror

170cr ayed for Human project

14th FEB 2011

CHANDRAPUR: A major hurdle in the path of ambitious Human project coming up on Human river in Mul tehsil has been cleared. The state government has finally provided a sum of Rs 170 crore for depositing net present value (NPV) with the forest department. Minister for water resources Sunil Tatkare on Sunday confirmed the receipt of NPV amount from the government and said that soon after depositing the amount, the actual construction work of the dam is likely to begin.

Speaking to reporters at the Circuit House here on Sunday, Tatkare however refused to give a timeframe in which the irrigation department would complete the project and said that it could be delayed for various unwanted reasons. He said that 11 different irrigation projects are under construction in Chandrapur district while survey work on three others has been taken up. "Gosikhurd, the only national project in Maharashtra, is a boon to Chandrapur as the district would get a major share of water from the dam. The government has made a provision of Rs 1,625 crore for Gosikhurd project. Of this, Chandrapur has a share of Rs 536 crore. Moreover, union water resources minister Salman Khurshid has agreed to provide Rs 1000 crore for Gosikhurd in the second phase," said Tatkare.

Source :- The Times of India

Minister bats for local newspapers

30th JAN 2011

PUNE: State Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare has underscored the importance of district-level newspapers in highlighting various rural issues.

The state-level newspapers are faced with space constraints that prevent them from carrying such reports adequately, and the district-level newspapers can fill in the gap, Tatkare said while addressing an awards function for journalists, instituted in memory of senior journalist Vasantrao Kane.

The function was organised by the Maharashtra Rajya Vruttapatra Sampadak Sahakari Sangh (MRVSSS) at Patrakar Sangh on Saturday. Present on the occasion were divisional information commissioner Vijay Kuwalekar and MRVSSS president Ravindra Bedkihaal.

The first Vasantrao Kane award was presented to the editor of Alibaug-based daily ‘Krishiwel’ S M Deshmukh.

Senior journalist Rambhau Joshi, Sangli-based daily ‘Lalkar’ editor B D Kharade, and Baramati-based weekly ‘Ranshing’ editor D S Ranshing were also felicitated for their contributions to journalism.

Kuvalekar, speaking on the occasion, rued that the present-day newspapers were not focusing on the issues of the common man.

Source :- Sakaal Times

Maharashtra asks Goa to provide employment to people hit by Tillari irrigation project

17th JAN 2011

Published: Monday, Jan 17, 2011, 22:48 IST Place: Panaji | Agency: PTI

Maharashtra government today asked Goa to provide government employment to 630 people affected by the inter-state Tillari irrigation development project.

In a high level meeting held in Panaji today, Maharashtra's water resources minister Sunil Tatkare urged his Goa counterpart, Philip Nery Rodrigues, to work out programme to provide employment to 630 people from Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra who were displaced due to the project.

"If Goa cannot provide the government jobs, it can formulate one-time settlement for the project-affected people," Tatkare told reporters after attending the meeting.

Maharashtra's demand stems from the agreement signed between both the states in 1990 which gave Goa 73% water share from the dam project on Tillari river in the North district.

Tatkare said that with Goa getting larger water share, it was also supposed to shoulder higher cost-sharing to the extent of 73% and bore liability like providing employment to the project affected people (PAP) as per 1976 Rehabilitation Act of Maharashtra.

"As a big brother, Maharashtra has let its land be submerged for the project and villages be rehabilitated for the project. Now its turn of Goa to fulfill its promises," the minister said responding to a question.

He said that few PAP had threatened to commit suicides if government employment, as promised to them during their evacuation, is not provided to them.

He said 11 villages with 1,236 families and 5,476 population was affected. While 869 families were certified to be PAP of which Maharashtra government has provided government employment to 204 people.

During the meeting today, Maharashtra also asked Goa to have a storage capacity built up alongside the Tillari irrigation project to take care of natural calamities or maintenance of canal during which the water can be supplied from this storage reservoir.

The project with 16 TMC dam is estimated to be cost Rs1612 crore of which Rs875 crore has to be borne by Goa government. Goa has to share Rs658 crore of the total cost.

Source :- DNA

Goa urged to give jobs to 630 dam-affected Maharashtra families

17th JAN 2011

Panaji, Jan 17

Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare Monday asked the Goa government to honour a 20-year-old agreement to provide jobs to 630 families in Maharashtra, affected by a inter-state dam project.

Speaking to reporters here after a meeting with his Goa counterpart Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Tatkare said that while Rodrigues had assured that he would "seriously look" into the matter, the state government needed to provide the jobs in a time-bound fashion.

"As per the Tillari dam agreement signed by the two state governments in 1990, the Goa government was to have 73 percent share of the water and bear a similar percentage of the total cost of the constructing the dam. Eleven villages and 850 families were affected due to the construction of the dam and the catchment area," Tatkare said.

"The Maharashtra government has fulfilled its commitment as per the agreement to provide government jobs to 200 odd families (on the basis of one government job per family), now it is the Goa government's turn. They have unfortunately not fulfilled their part of the bargain. Some of the affected people who are eligible for government jobs have now reached the age of 45," Tatkare said.

"If the Goa government cannot give them jobs, they should at least emulate and opt for a scheme like the Maharashtra government's, by giving them a one-time settlement in lieu of a job," he said.

The Rs.1,612 crore-worth Tillari dam project, in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, is a joint undertaking by the both the state governments and was commissioned in May 2009 and is aimed at fulfilling the potable water needs of the south Maharashtra and north Goa region.

The construction of the dam, which was delayed considerably resulted in displacement of 11 villages and 1,236 families comprising 5,276 people in all. One of the Maharashtrian villages affected by the construction of the dam was even relocated across the border in the Bicholim taluka of Goa.

Source :- ProKerala