Bhandara is a district in eastern Maharashtra. Although rich in agriculture and natural resources, it had been deprived of infrastructure, irrigation, and power supply for many years due to sheer political apathy. To change this depressing picture and accelerate the sustainable development of the district, Maharashtra Sevak Devendra Fadnavis flagged off several Bhandara-centric projects, such as the Gosikhurd project, Mukhyamantri Baliraja Free Power Scheme, Sangwari Upsa Irrigation Project, Bhimalkasa Small Irrigation Project, Pradhan Mantri Suryaghar Yojana, and infrastructure projects for rural development.
Provision of Adequate Funds for the Gosikhurd Project
Providing good irrigation facilities for the farmers in the state, including the agriculture-based Bhandara district, has been one of the focus areas of Devendra Fadnavis. Recognizing the Gosikhurd Dam Project as a key project for agriculture and the economy of the Bhandara district, the Fadnavis government, in a recent cabinet meeting held in April 2025, gave the fourth administrative approval for the provision of an expenditure of Rs 25,972.69 crore for the work of this project. The multipurpose Gosikhurd project, being implemented on the Wainganga River in the Godavari Valley, is directly benefiting 1.96 lakh hectares of area in the Bhandara, Chandrapur, and Nagpur districts. The water from this project is used for irrigation, drinking, industry, fisheries, and power generation. In 2015-16, the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis included this project in the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchana Yojana. However, after the completion of the Gosikhurd Dam project, the people affected by the project were not provided with civic amenities at the rehabilitation sites for many years. For this, the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had personally visited those sites in 2015 and approved a fund of Rs 257.65 crore to provide quality civic amenities at the rehabilitation site set up for the affected people. Meanwhile, the state government had approved a proposal of Rs 101.95 crore to develop world-class water tourism in the Gosikhurd reservoir.
Last year, in 2024, when Devendra Fadnavis was the Water Resources Minister, he had given improved administrative approval to the irrigation projects that were in progress in the state so that they could be completed at the earliest. He gave improved administrative approval to 21 irrigation projects in the state. Out of these, 12 irrigation projects were in Vidarbha, and one of them was the important Sangwari Upsa Irrigation Project in Pawani taluka of Bhandara. This project will directly benefit the farmers of Sangwari village in Pawani taluka and the surrounding areas.
Bhimalkasa Micro Irrigation Project
The Bhimalkasa Small Irrigation Project is located near Wadegaon village in Sakoli taluka in the Wainganga sub-basin of the Godavari basin. Nearly 931 hectares of area in 5 villages in Sakoli will benefit from this lake, which is an old malguzari. This project was started on 8 May 1973. At that time, it was given the original administrative approval of Rs 25 lakh. Then on 18 May 1986, the first revised administrative approval was given for a cost of Rs 93 lakh. The second revised administrative approval of Rs. 28.74 crore was given by the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. After that, the Fadnavis government gave the third revised administrative approval again in September 2019 for a cost of Rs 41.16 crore. As the Water Resources Minister in the previous Mahayuti government, he had also approved the revised administrative cost for the Surewada Upsa Irrigation Scheme.
Electricity Bill Arrears Waived off, Relief for Balirajas
Under the Chief Minister’s free electricity scheme for the Balirajas, i.e., Mukhyamantri Baliraja Yojana 2024, launched in 2024, the arrears of 57,166 farmers in Bhandara district were completely waived off. The decision of the state government to bear the burden saved farmers more than Rs. 487 crores. If we look at the arrears amounts by talukas, the benefits for the farmers in Bhandara Rural are 4,895.70 lakhs, in Mohadi are 5,856.69 lakhs, in Pawani are 10,424.29 lakhs, in Tumsar are 5,239.44 lakhs, in Lakhandoor are 6,388.29 lakhs, in Lakhani are 6,181.56 lakhs, and in Sakoli are 8,751.75 lakhs. It is clear from the figures that the farmers who were burdened with arrears had a big relief.
Chief Minister Baliraja Free Electricity Scheme
Along with the electricity bill waiver, the Devendra Fadnavis government approved the installation of solar panels on the rooftops of houses of farmers and other people in Bhandara district under the Pradhan Mantri Suryaghar Yojana for free electricity. Solar panels have been installed on the roofs of 1,793 houses in Bhandara, generating approximately 6,797 kW of electricity. Through the implementation of this vital scheme, the Fadnavis government helped the Bhandara move towards self-sufficiency in terms of electricity in an environment-friendly manner.
Administrative Focus on the Bhandara District for Infrastructure and Other Developments
Due to the initiatives of Devendra Fadnavis, several projects were launched and several government schemes were implemented in Bhandara. Through the ‘governance at your doorstep’ initiative by the Mahayuti 1.0 government, 638,000 beneficiaries were registered in the Bhandara district, and approximately 210,000 beneficiaries were provided the benefits worth Rs 304 crore. In 2019, when he was the chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis had allocated sufficient funds for the roadworks and administrative buildings in Bhandara. Of this, Rs 362.96 crore was provided for the Sakoli-Gadchiroli road, Rs 421 crore for the Nilja Phata-Bhandara road, Rs 4.99 crore for Gadegaon ITI, Rs 13.03 crore for the construction of the Tumsar administrative building, and Rs 3.23 crore for the Sakoli taluka administrative building. Also, Rs 34.68 crore was provided for the roads in Lakhandur, Adyal, Madgi, Sholabhat, Mandipar, Kinhi, Ekodi, Palandur, and Mohadi. In 2019, a water supply scheme was approved for Mohadi Nagar Panchayat. Under this scheme, a proposal was approved to bring 92,000 liters of water from the Wainganga River near Kothurna village. This decision paved the way to address the growing needs of the population.
Children in the Bhandara district deserve quality education. To ensure this, the Fadnavis government had decided to lease 22 acres of land at Pachgaon in Mohadi taluka to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya for 30 years at a nominal rate in 2018. Keeping in mind the importance of digital education, efforts were made to provide digital education facilities in Bhandara by introducing the digital systems in the Zilla Parishad schools and encouraging the teachers and parents to cooperate and support this new method.
All these decisions taken by Devendra Fadnavis for the Bhandara district were meant for the persistent development of the people of Bhandara, whether farmers or students. With so many initiatives in multiple sectors, such as irrigation, electricity, water, roads, education, administration, and energy, Bhandara will no longer remain an agricultural district but will see developments in multiple fields.