MUMBAI: Irrigation department under the Cong-NCP govt awarded dam projects without proper designs, leading to changes in plans, delays and cost escalation, say sources.The Irrigation department under the erstwhile Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra apparently gave little thought to cost escalation or the safety of the public while handing out projects that instead of designing a dam according to the area's topography, it just used an earlier design in its haste to award contracts, allege sources.Such arbitrary award of contracts has resulted in cost escalation and delays as the designs had to be reworked later, in many cases much after the work was started While it was believed that only a couple of projects were awarded in such `copy , paste' manner, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the practice was employed in a number of projects, ostensibly to favour contractors.The BJP-Sena government of Fadnavis has cancelled 94 tenders involving 14 controversial irrigation projects so far.Observers allege that officials rushed to give away contracts due to the kickbacks involved.Activist Anjali Damania, who blew the lid on the irrigation scam, said that once the contract is awarded, the state would release a mobilisation advance (15 % of the total project cost) to help the contractors execute the project. “ A huge portion of this advance used to come back as a kickback to those involved in handing out the contracts,“ Damania said.Later, somewhere in the middle of the project, the design would suddenly be changed, and the cost would escalate manifold, again benefitting the contractor.Planning of dams requires careful deliberation as several important factors are involved in it, like soil quality, catchment area, average rainfall, capacity of dams, etc. Yet the department used the dam design of one project to award a new project.“We are surprised at how the government used to function then. They went out of the way to help the contractors.In many cases the planning and design of irrigation projects were simply lifted from one project to ten other projects.“ Fadnavis said.In the case of Purna Barrage-2 Nerdhamana dam project in Vidarbha, the irrigation department issued a tender based on a tentative design and after the contractor completed 40% of the work, they gave him the actual design. The revised cost shot up to Rs 521 crore from the earlier Rs 189 crore, an increase of over 300%.In the case of Kondhane dam, the cost shot up to Rs 614 crore from Rs 56 crore. Here, the dam design was copied from Gadh dam in Konkan. The contractor for Balganga dam in Raigad was given a design for Shai dam in Shahpur, which was 140 km away. The cost of the project shot up to over Rs 1,400 crore from Rs 489 crore.While the Kondhane and Balganga projects were given to FA Enterprises, the Nerdhamana project had gone to SMS Infrastructure, which is linked to a senior BJP leader.The Anti-Corruption Bureau, in its FIR in the Balganga scam, states that the contract was given “without even a proper study“.NCP ministers Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare, the current NCP state president, are in the crosshairs as most of the allegations pertain to the time when the two held the irrigation portfolio. Pawar held the portfolio between 2004 and 2012, followed by Tatkare till 2014.Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik, however, claimed that the allegations have no substance. “We have done nothing wrong, they are just defaming us. The ACB is investigating the case and they have not found anything in the last two years,“ said Malik.The NCP spokesperson claimed that cost escalation was not just during the NCP tenure. “After the BJP came to power, the Penganga project cost has increased 30 times. The Chief Minister should answer as to how this cost has escalated,“ said Malik.