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During MVA’s tenure in the state, the BMC focussed on the desalination plant at Manori for a whopping Rs 3,500 crore, which includes set-up cost of Rs 1,600 crore and maintenance of the plant for a period of 20 years at Rs 1,900 crore. The plant is estimated to supply 200 million litres of water daily (MLD) at the initial stage, which can be increased to 400 MLD later.
The BMC made a provision of Rs 200 crore for the desalination project for the 2022-23 financial year.
With the political shift in the state
and its effect on the BMC, the project has come under scanner with allegations of severe cost escalation. “It costs nearly R18,000 crore to treat 200 million litres of seawater,” said a former BJP corporator.
“We are against the desalination project as it is an unwanted expenditure. We can save water, and there are many other sources to increase water supply. Mumbai does not need a project which fetches water from seawater. The high cost is also one of the reasons,” said Bhalchandra Shirsat, spokesperson of BJP Mumbai unit.
The detailed survey report for the desalination plant was supposed to be ready before the end of 2021 and the plan was to float tenders for construction by June 2022. “The detailed project report of the desalination project is expected to be submitted by next month. The BMC will take further steps accordingly,” said an official from the BMC.
However, if this project is stopped, the civic body will have to turn to Gargai project again. In fact, the
civic body had plans to build
three dams—
Gargai (440 MLD),
Pinjal (865 MLD) and
Damanganga-Pinjal River link project (1,586 MLD)
to increase the supply by 2,891 MLD by 2050.
HOW MANY TREES TO CUT FOR 3 DAMS
Excess Koyna water to be used for city?
MUMBAI: Adding another flip-flop to the issue, the state government has now said that it will consider the possibility of bringing the excess water diverted from Koyna dam to Mumbai.
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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis moots diverting Konkan rivers to tackle drought
Updated - August 16, 2019 01:02 am IST - Mumbai
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday suggested that diverting water from rivers in the Konkan region to the Godavari river basin would resolve the drought problem in Marathwada and north Maharashtra.
Mr. Fadnavis also mooted the idea of constructing a 480 km tunnel to divert water from the Vainganga river in Telangana to help provide relief to east and west Vidarbha.
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Excess Koyna water to be used for city?
The government announced this on Wednesday during a calling attention motion in the legislative assembly.
This comes after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had, in 2013, scrapped its initial plans to source this water, calling it “unfeasible”.
Now, the state government said it had conducted a new prefeasibility report which indicated feasible”.
“We have undertaken this new report which has shown that it is possible to execute this project. Hence, the state government is keen on ensuring that we go ahead with this and bring water to Mumbai,” said Vijay Shivtare, minister of state for water resources.
According to Shivtare, a preliminary estimate showed that the government might be able to tap into at least 67.05 thousand million cubic feet of water annually for the city. “Right now, this water is not being used at all and, in that sense, goes waste. Hence, we will be able to use it better by bringing it to Mumbai,” he added.
However, the government might have to pay a price for the dilly-dallying. The minister said that the cost of the project had doubled from Rs2,200 crore (in 2009) to Rs5,000 crore at current rates. “However, we are pushing for the Centre to recognize this as a national project so that we can get central funding,” he said.
