The Maha Vikas Aghadi seems hell-bent on blocking funds and halting major infrastructure and development projects undertaken by the previous government to further narrow political goals.
As per reports, CM Thackeray has now decided to block funds for ‘Jalyukt Shivar’, a major developmental project started by the Devendra Fadnavis government, with a target to make Maharashtra completely drought-free.
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As per reports, the MVA government has decided not to release funds for the Jalyukt Shivar projects in Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, and Ahmednagar districts.
The Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan was started by the Fadnavis government on December 2014. Aimed to make 5000 villages free of water scarcity, the project targeted drought-prone areas by improving water conservation measures in order to make them more water sustainable.
As per a report in Indian Express, hundreds of villages in central Maharashtra and Vidarbha have been facing drought and long dry spells due to inadequate rainfall. The project was to provide decentralised water bodies to facilitate ground-water recharge and improve waterconservation measures in those villages.
In 2019, more than 1000 villages, where the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan was undertaken, were declared drought-free. The water storage capacity was improved to 1.6 lakh Trillion Cubic Metres (TMC), benefitting 20 lakh hectares of protected irrigated land in total. Crop intensity was improved 1.3 to 1.5 times, causing a 30-50% jump in total agricultural productivity in the areas where the Abhiyan operated.
Prior to this, Uddhav Thackeray had ordered a halt on the Metro Car Shed construction at Aarey, announced that he will drop cases against the Bhima-Koregaon rioters.