Panaji: Goa has blamed the Maharashtra government for the delay in the handing out of compensation packages to people displaced by the Tillari irrigation project across both the states.
"A compensatory package of Rs 5 lakh was finalised for the project-affected people (PAP) during a recent meeting between chief ministers of both the states, but Maharashtra is yet to give us the names of the beneficiaries," Goa Water Resources Minister Dayanand Mandrekar said on Tuesday.
During a meeting last month between the two chief ministers, it was decided that 73.3 per cent of the total compensation would be paid by Goa while the remaining 26.7 per would be Maharashtra's contribution.
"It was decided that the money would be deposited in the bank accounts of beneficiaries. The project-affected people had requested that the compensation money should be put in their bank accounts directly and not be handed over to the Maharashtra government," Mandrekar said.
S Nadkarni, chief engineer of the Goa water resources department, said that the state government has already budgeted around Rs 38 crore for payment to the project - affected people.
"Once we get the data, we will begin depositing the money," he said, adding that the data provided by the Maharashtra government has to be authenticated by the collector of Sindhudurg district. In October of last year, Goa government had proposed a compensation of Rs 3 lakh per family but the offer was rejected by the project-affected people, who had demanded that the amount be hiked, Nadkarni said.
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