State Industries Minister Uday Samant Tuesday told the Legislative Council that an international tender process will be initiated for the seawater desalination project to address the water woes of Mumbai . Samant was responding to a question raised by MLC Rajhans Singh regarding water supply in Mumbai city and suburbs. “An international tender process will be immediately started for the project to convert seawater into potable water. The citizens of Mumbai are also facing water shortage on a large scale. Therefore, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will be instructed to improve water supply using modern technology,” he said. Samant said that it will take four years to complete the Gargai Dam project which the BMC had revived. "After the completion of this project, the BMC will be able to supply 440 million litres of additional water, which will alleviate the water shortage in Mumbai to some extent. Instructions have been given to take sophisticated measures to prevent leakages and unauthorised connections in the water supply system. MIDC’s pipeline is being equipped with such technology that will make it possible to detect leaks and unauthorized connections from the control room itself,” he said. Panel to probe unauthorised constructions Industries Minister Uday Samant announced in the state legislative council that a committee headed by a former judge will be formed to investigate unauthorized constructions in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation area. According to the report of this committee, immediate action will be taken against those government officials who are found guilty in this, he said in the Upper House. Legislative Council members Sachin Ahir, Adv. Anil Parab, Bhai Jagtap, Praveen Darekar, Sunil Shinde had raised the issue regarding unauthorised constructions in Mumbai. Samant said that currently there are 7,951 unauthorized constructions in eight wards, out of which 1,211 have been evicted. In addition, cases are pending regarding 2,015 constructions. He said that the government is seriously considering the issue of unauthorized constructions.
