Comptroller and Auditor General of India (2020). Report No. 3 of 2020: General and Social Sector and PSUs, Government of Maharashtra, including the thematic audit “Implementation of Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan”. Tabled 8 September 2020. https://cag.gov.in/en/audit-report/details/110871
Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan was launched in 2014 to make Maharashtra drought-free by 2019 through check dams, stop dams, farm ponds and desilting across thousands of villages. The audit put spending at Rs 9,633.75 crore and found the scheme “had little impact in achieving water neutrality and increasing groundwater level”, with weak monitoring and a lack of transparency in execution. Press reports of the audit add sample findings: no groundwater rise in 38 of 58 villages tested, storage short of need in 83 of 120 sampled villages, and no maintenance cess collected. Those sample figures were taken from press coverage and should be checked against the report text. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responded that the scheme would have done better had it not been stopped. The wiki cites the audit as the largest independent check of a state retention campaign and as evidence that the number of structures built does not by itself predict water outcomes.