Finish 60% work in Bundelkhand by December 31,Samra tells state

From May to July,the Centre has released two installments,but according to officials,the progress of projects is less than 25 per cent. The Centrally-supported Bundelkhand package is one of the biggest packages being given to UP and Madhya Pradesh for drought management. In UP,the package is being used for implementation of projects in 7 districts — Jhansi,Mahoba,Banda,Jalaun,Chitrakoot,Hamirpur and Lalitpur.

The Centre has approved 28 projects in all,which includes seed cropping,micro irrigation,warehousing,diversification in horticulture,repair of lift irrigation scheme and watershed management in arable lands. Of the Rs 1,595 crore allocated for 2010-11,Rs 332 crore was released as first installment,followed by Rs 16.31 as second installment.

Samra was accompanied by Technical expert,water management,from New Delhi,KD Sharma. The officials present for the review included Special Secretary,Planning,S Srivastava,Divisional Commissioner,Jhansi,TP Pathak,District Magistrate,Jhansi,Rajshekhar,District Magistrate,Lalitpur Ranvir Prasad and officials from irrigation,forest,animal husbandry and other departments.

This is what the expenditure has been so far:
* For land conservation,Rs 26.17 crore was approved for the to the Forest Department,of which Rs 17.39 crore has been released. But by October 31,only Rs 5.25 crore has been spent.

* The Irrigation Department was given Rs 22.18 crore out of the approved Rs 177.89 crore for construction of canals,repair of ponds and pitching of rivers. Of this,they spent Rs 7.73 crore.

* The Animal Husbandry Department was given Rs 5.28 crore of the approved Rs 40.76 crore but they have not spent a single rupee so far.

Other departments whose progress,according to Samra,was “not satisfactory” were the Minor Irrigation Department,which has been given Rs 112.65 crore of the approved Rs 360.21 crore for water recharging and management and Rural Development Department,which was given Rs 150.73 crore for construction of 25,122 ponds,of which Rs 37.68 crore has been released.

Samra also observed that since the Mandi Parishad had failed to give comprehensive proposals,the approved Rs 31.33 crore — which will be used for construction of mandis or the agriculture produce marketing committees — has not been released as yet. He also cancelled five dairy cooperative societies of the 40 created under the package,stating that they are not needed.

The officials prefer to keep mum over Samra’s comments. Sources say the state government officials have cited Panchayat elections as the reason for the delay.

A senior official of the Irrigation department said: “We did get the funds in June,but we got busy with other projects and by the time we decided to release it to the districts,the panchayat elections were announced. The work could not start before mid-October.”

An official of the Forest department posted at Jhansi said: “We had prepared the report for a land conservation project in which we are planting Amla saplings in wastelands and the work had started in June,but due to panchayat elections,we could not do anything between August and October.”

The Divisional Commissioner (Jhansi),TP Pathak,too gave similar reasons.

“We got busy with the panchayat elections,which not only took a lot of time but also kept the manpower engaged,” he said. “But we are trying to complete the tasks like plantation of Amla saplings,formation of mandi samitis and restoration of ponds by December 31.”