BMC desalination plant panel to meet tomorrow to decide on construction

“We are looking to float the tenders by next month. A review of technical parameters for this project will be taken up by the committee, which is expected to meet on Monday. After the review, we will float the tenders and call for bidders for constructing the plant. The tender documents have already been drafted and we are in the final stage now,” said P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner.

A desalination plant is a facility that treats saline water from the sea, making it potable. The plant is expected to curtail Mumbai’s water crisis significantly. The city has a requirement of 4,200 MLD of water daily, however, the BMC is able to supply  just 3,850 MLD.

This plant will have the capacity to treat and supply 200 MLD of water daily and a provision of augmenting the capacity to 400 MLD will be there. The construction cost for this project has been pegged at Rs 1,600 crore, while Rs 1,900 crore will be spent for maintaining this plant for 20 years. In the 2023-24 civic budget, the BMC had also earmarked a Rs 200 crore fund for this project.

Civic officials also said that alongside the desalination plant, the BMC is also taking up the Gargai Dam project. This project was conceived in 2015, during the Devendra Fadnavis led BJP-Shiv Sena government.

The dams were to be spread across 1,100 hectares of land and work on this project was in full swing, however, after the MVA government came to power, this project was halted citing environmental concerns.

“Though our first priority is the desalination plant, we are keeping this project going. Because both these projects have been conceived by keeping in mind the city’s growing demand for water. The only problem of this Gargai project is that more than 4 lakh trees will be affected. All the compensation and paperwork have been completed. We may start the Gargai project from where we left off, after the desalination project is being tendered out,” said Velrasu.