Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde told the State Assembly on Wednesday that the BMC was gearing up to expedite completion of three major projects of constructing dams and linking rivers with the aim of overcoming the rapidly increasing water deficit of the metropolis.
The current water supply stands at around 3,800 million litres per day, much below the estimated requirement of 4,500 MLD to 4,800 MLD a day. The widening gap is attributed to high-rise residential and infrastructure development that has resulted in a sudden spurting of population and, consequently, increase in the demand for water.
Dam Projects for Creating New Reserves
In a written reply to Shiv Sena (UBT) member Sunil Prabhu, Dy CM Shinde gave a status report on the three major projects that will provide additional water storage for the
Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR):
Project Name Status Update Purpose
Gargai Project Last stages of primary engineering; tender documents being prepared. Construction of a multi-purpose dam to meet MMR’s water needs.
Pinjal Project—Initial project engineering works in progress for the proposed dam; DPR preparation in progress after primary EIA approval. Development of a new dam to augment the supplies.
Daman Ganga–Pinjal River Linking
The formalities for agreements and approvals required from the central government are in progress. Inter-state river linking project to channel water into the Pinjal system.
Dy CM Shinde reiterated that the BMC is actively pursuing these large-scale initiatives to secure the water future of Mumbai’s expanding population.
Non-Conventional Methods Underway
In addition to conventional dam construction, other projects are being undertaken by the BMC for diversification and strengthening of the water supply:
Desalination Plant: A project to desalinate seawater into potable water is under implementation at Kulaba (Colaba) with a capacity of 200 MLD, which is extendable to 400 MLD.
Water Purification: The work is in progress for the Tertiary Level Water Purification Project with 12 MLD capacity for further treatment and purification of available water resources. The comprehensive efforts are targeted at bridging the huge gap between the present supply and the increasing future demand due to rapid development in the city.
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