<p>The pile-up of pending bills in the Water Resources Department has now touched Rs 10,000 crore.</p>.<p>This comes at a time when the cost of completing ongoing works of the department itself would come to Rs 1 lakh crore, according to Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol.</p>.<p>The data tabled by the minister in the Legislative Council also showed that the pending dues of the department to contractors swelled by Rs 6,200 crore in just three years - from Rs 3,789 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 9,998.95 crore in 2021-22.</p>.<p>Responding to a calling attention motion by JD(S) MLC B M Farooq in the Legislative Council on Monday, the minister said that the problem faced by the department was due to a mismatch between allocation of funds and the cost of projects being taken up.</p>.<p>One of the main concerns, according to the minister, was the allocation of token amount for a project after which local elected representatives lobbied to ensure that a tender is invited for the same. “If we approve projects based on budget, then this would not be an issue,” he said.</p>.<p>Among the various corporations under the department, the highest pendency of bills is in Karnataka Neeravari Nigama Limited with dues totalling to Rs 4,058.32 crore, followed by Visveswaraya Jala Nigama Limited (Rs 3,273.07 crore), Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited (Rs 1,355.16 crore) and Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigama Limited (Rs 1,213.4 crore).</p>.<p>Karjol also shared details on the year-on-year increase in pending bills to contractors, which grew from Rs 719 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 9,998.95 crore in 2021-22.</p>.<p>Though the dues had touched Rs 8,887 crore in 2016-17, bills were cleared in 2017-18 fiscal bringing down the pending bill amount to Rs 1,955 crore. It rose to Rs 3,789 cr in 2018-19, Rs 7,533 cr in 2019-20 and Rs 7,092 cr in 2020-21, the minister said.</p>.<p>He noted that there is enough water availability in the state to irrigate an additional 50 lakh acres of land. “Though water is available, we have a shortage of funds,” he said.</p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>The pile-up of pending bills in the Water Resources Department has now touched Rs 10,000 crore.</p>.<p>This comes at a time when the cost of completing ongoing works of the department itself would come to Rs 1 lakh crore, according to Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol.</p>.<p>The data tabled by the minister in the Legislative Council also showed that the pending dues of the department to contractors swelled by Rs 6,200 crore in just three years - from Rs 3,789 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 9,998.95 crore in 2021-22.</p>.<p>Responding to a calling attention motion by JD(S) MLC B M Farooq in the Legislative Council on Monday, the minister said that the problem faced by the department was due to a mismatch between allocation of funds and the cost of projects being taken up.</p>.<p>One of the main concerns, according to the minister, was the allocation of token amount for a project after which local elected representatives lobbied to ensure that a tender is invited for the same. “If we approve projects based on budget, then this would not be an issue,” he said.</p>.<p>Among the various corporations under the department, the highest pendency of bills is in Karnataka Neeravari Nigama Limited with dues totalling to Rs 4,058.32 crore, followed by Visveswaraya Jala Nigama Limited (Rs 3,273.07 crore), Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited (Rs 1,355.16 crore) and Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigama Limited (Rs 1,213.4 crore).</p>.<p>Karjol also shared details on the year-on-year increase in pending bills to contractors, which grew from Rs 719 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 9,998.95 crore in 2021-22.</p>.<p>Though the dues had touched Rs 8,887 crore in 2016-17, bills were cleared in 2017-18 fiscal bringing down the pending bill amount to Rs 1,955 crore. It rose to Rs 3,789 cr in 2018-19, Rs 7,533 cr in 2019-20 and Rs 7,092 cr in 2020-21, the minister said.</p>.<p>He noted that there is enough water availability in the state to irrigate an additional 50 lakh acres of land. “Though water is available, we have a shortage of funds,” he said.</p>.<p><strong>Check out the latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
