He was the chief engineer of the Water Resources Department and a member of the state-level technical advisory committee.
Pandhare is a whistleblower who wrote to the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra and its governor alleging irregularities and cost inflation in irrigation projects.
The controversy raised by these communications caused the deputy chief minister of the state Ajit Pawar to resign.
In his letters he pointed out that Rs 120 billion[3] spent on lift irrigation projects in the state are a total waste as around 99 per cent of the total 227 projects in Maharashtra are not working and 90 per cent never began functioning.
[4] In December 2013, after his retirement from active service, Pandhare joined the Aam Aadmi party (AAP).