Panaji, Sept 11: In a significant development concerning the Tar-Moira river improvement project, the Goa Water Resources Department (WRD) has cancelled the re-revised technical sanction of ₹72.74 crore granted for improvement of the Tar/Moira river waterway from Guirim to the NH bridge at Tar junction, Mapusa.<br /><br /><p>RTI activist Sudip Tamhankar has claimed that his intervention and sustained scrutiny compelled the department to withdraw the enhanced expenditure, raising questions over how the estimated cost of the project had escalated substantially in the first place.</p><p>Documents available show that an earlier revised technical sanction for the project stood at ₹45,75,48,270. However, on June 29, 2026, the WRD Chief Engineer issued a re-revised technical sanction for ₹72,73,95,034, inclusive of 3% contingencies and 18% GST.</p><p>This represented an increase of approximately ₹26.98 crore — nearly 59% over the earlier ₹45.75-crore sanction.</p><p>Barely over two months later, however, the WRD reversed the decision.</p><p>In a memorandum dated September 4, 2026, Chief Engineer D. Y. Salelkar stated that the re-revised technical sanction accorded on June 29 for the Tar/Moira river project “hereby stands cancelled.”</p>

₹27-Crore Escalation Raises Questions

<p>The dramatic increase followed by cancellation has now brought the project under scrutiny.</p><p>The key question is why a project carrying a revised technical sanction of ₹45.75 crore required enhancement to ₹72.74 crore — an escalation of nearly ₹27 crore — and what subsequently prompted the department to cancel that enhanced sanction within a little over two months.</p><p>Tamhankar has maintained that his RTI-based intervention exposed the issue and forced the WRD to act.</p><p>The cancellation assumes significance because the June order had formally superseded the earlier ₹45.75-crore revised technical sanction and approved the substantially higher amount for the same stated work — “Improvement to waterway of Tar/Moira river from Guirim to NH bridge at Tar junction at Mapusa in Bardez Taluka.”</p><p>While the September 4 memorandum categorically cancels the ₹72.74-crore re-revised technical sanction, the document itself does not state the reason for the cancellation.</p><p>This leaves unanswered questions over the basis on which the expenditure was originally enhanced, the estimates and calculations behind the ₹72.74-crore figure, and the circumstances that ultimately led WRD to withdraw its own sanction.</p><p>The episode could now intensify demands for greater transparency in the preparation, revision and approval of estimates for major public works.</p><p>For Tamhankar, the cancellation represents a significant outcome of citizen scrutiny of government expenditure. However, the larger question remains: how did a ₹45.75-crore project reach ₹72.74 crore in the first place, and who approved the nearly ₹27-crore escalation?</p>