Fadnavis back in the saddle, so is his pet water project | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Launched when Fadnavis was CM in 2014, Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan had run into trouble during MVA government
Before leaving for Delhi on Friday on a two-day visit, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde held a closed-door meeting with Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to discuss and review mega projects started by the previous NDA government but which had been stalled by the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government. A senior officer who was present at the meeting said, “The first decision at the meeting was that Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan (JSA) should be restarted. A detailed status report on the project is being worked on.”
The decision to restart what had been Fadnavis’s pet project as CM is an open political challenge to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress — constituents of the MVA.
Highly placed sources told The Indian Express, “The Deputy Chief Minister has given a stern directive to the water conservation department to immediately start the Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given his consent for the scheme.”
In 2014, Fadnavis, who was leading the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government, launched the ambitious JSA with a stated objective to make Maharashtra drought-free. The flagship project was undertaken in phases in drought-hit villages across the state. Under the scheme, 25,000 drought-prone villages were selected and various water conservation projects such as building canals, bunds and ponds, and deepening and widening of existing water structures were launched.
Until 2019, the JSA had support from across the political spectrum with leaders of different parties competing for conservation works in their constituencies. The project was also a part of the Sena-BJP’s 2019 poll campaign, which highlighted how 6.41 lakh works were completed across 22,586 villages between 2014 and 2019 at a cost of Rs 9,633.75 crore.
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