The Maharashtra environment department, now headed by Pankaja Munde, has cancelled administrative approval for 14 lake conservation projects. This includes 11 projects cleared when Eknath Shinde was chief minister and held the environment portfolio. The department has ordered the recovery of Rs 91.31 crore already released for these works, along with interest.
Projects under scrutiny
According to an official order, the department also cancelled approval for three projects that were cleared when Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray was the environment minister during the previous MVA government. The decision was taken after a steering committee meeting on February 16, which found that five proposals were not prepared in the prescribed format under the State Lake Conservation Scheme. Nine proposals did not submit revised project reports for more than two years after the initial application.
List of cancelled projects
The 11 projects cleared during Shinde's tenure include Mukteshwar, Samatanagar, and Ausa lakes in Latur; Vadap lake in Karjat, Raigad; Parampok lake in Parli, Beed; Beloshi lake in Alibaug; and Kalmadu, Visapur, Devli, and Brahmanshevage lakes in Chalisgaon, Jalgaon. These projects were estimated to cost Rs 244.15 crore, of which Rs 73.31 crore had been released.
The three projects cleared under Thackeray include Ozar lake in Lanja, Ratnagiri; Erangal lake in Mumbai; and Khambale lake in Igatpuri, Nashik. Their total estimated cost was Rs 35.99 crore, with Rs 18 crore already released.
Recovery of funds
The order from the environment and climate change department states that in-principle approval for all 14 projects has been cancelled. Funds released in the past are to be recovered with interest. The State Lake Conservation Plan has been operational in Maharashtra since 2006-07, under which local bodies submit project proposals to the state government for approval.
Policy reversals by Fadnavis government
After coming to power in December 2024, the Devendra Fadnavis government has set aside several decisions implemented by the previous Shinde-led government. In January 2025, the government changed the three-course meal plan announced in June 2024, stating that schools could include sweet dishes if management committees raised funds. In February, it stayed a five-year tender worth Rs 3,200 crore for mechanised housekeeping of government hospitals and directed continuation of the earlier system. In April 2025, the government set aside the 'One State, One Uniform' decision, leaving uniform decisions to school management committees.
Pankaja Munde did not respond to calls and messages. Queries sent to Eknath Shinde also did not receive a response.
