The Jhashinagar Lift Irrigation Scheme (LIS) in Maharashtra's Gondia district was given administrative approval in 1995-96. But 27 years on, the project, the cost of which escalated from Rs 14.43 crore to Rs 127 crore - is yet to be completed.
Officials attribute this delay in the project to the changing status of the land where it is located. The area under the project currently falls in the buffer zone of the Navegaon Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR).
The project is partially completed so far as only its headwork, pump house, and main canal - except the portion passing through the reserve forest - have been put in place.
The scheme was meant to benefit the people of 12 villages from Arjuni Morgaon tehsil and to bring 6,574 hectares of land under gross command area and 3,042 hectares under cultivable command area. The villages which were going to benefit included Yerandi, Jabbarkheda, Dhabepaoni, Kanholi, Tidka, Jhashinagar, Yelodi, and Rampuri.
After the project was given the administrative nod during 1995-96, the actual work commenced in 2004.
Amritraj Patil, Executive Engineer (Irrigation), said the changing forest status and later the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic were the main reasons behind the delay in the completion of the project.
In 2012, the project site was notified as a reserve forest and in 2013 it became a part of the NNTR. The site was lying under the eco-sensitive zone at that time, but in 2016 it was notified as the buffer zone of NNTR. In all these years, the cost of the project escalated to Rs 127 crore, he said.
In 2018, phase-1 of the project was put into service, but it serves no purpose due to the incomplete work, Patil said.
