Audit Reports
Andhra Pradesh
Report No. 2 of 2012 - Performance Audit of Jalayagnam in Andhra Pradesh
Overview
Jalayagnam is the most important and ambitious programme taken up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, both in terms of budgetary allocation as well as the socio-economic reach envisaged. The programme comprised 86 projects (44 major,30 medium, 4 flood banks and 8 modernization works) and was estimated to cost RS. 1.86 lakh crore. Twelve of these projects were taken up prior to 2004-05 (approved cost: Rs. 2,139 crore) and were brought under Jalayagnam to expedite their completion. 74 projects were sanctioned between 2004-05 and 2008-09 (approved cost:Rs. 1,83,470 crore). The programme aimed at developing infrastructure for irrigation, mainly in the backward, parched and drought prone areas of Telangana and Rayalaseema regions of the State, to create an ayacut of 97.46 lakh acres and stabilize the existing ayacut of 22.53 lakh acres. It also envisaged provision of drinking water to about 1/4th of the State's population and generation of 2700 MW of power. Considering that a majority of the State's eight crore population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, and the fact that over 50 per cent of the cultivated area in the State is rain fed, the priority accorded by the Government to the irrigation sector is extremely timely and laudable.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been reviewing a number of irrigation projects in the State every year. During the period 2004-2010, 18 irrigation projects were examined. Almost all these projects formed part of Jalayagnam and are currently under discussion by the Public Accounts Committee of the State Legislature. The issues flagged in the earlier reports with regard to implementation of these projects, EPC1 mode of contracting, and the need for building safeguards in the contracts with regard to variation in scope, specifications, designs etc., have not been addressed by the State Government, on the ground that, these issues are not applicable in fixed price contracts like EPC model. In the earlier reports, concerns have also been expressed by Audit on the impact of non-acquisition of land and pending clearances from CWC2/MoEF3/MoTA4 etc., before awarding the contracts, in terms of time and cost overrun. The current Performance Audit is an attempt to review not only the individual irrigation projects taken up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh under the Jalayagnam programme since 2004-05, but also discuss at a macro level, several other issues relevant to the implementation of the programme itself including macro level planning, availability of water and power to operationalise the projects, detailed project level planning, tendering and contract management in respect of multiple packages of these projects, and project execution.