Work on Gargai reservior will be completed ahead of schedule, but its yield to be lower than expected.
Mumbai will get less water than what it was originally expected to get from the next reservoir it will tap to overcome the water crisis. The hydraulic department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has plans to tap water from the Gargai reservoir in Thane district after completion of the ongoing Middle Vaitarna project.
While according to a state-appointed committee led by water management specialist Madhav Chitale, the Gargai reservoir project was expected to yield 455 million litres daily (MLD), a latest yield feasibility report submitted by the project’s consultant shows the yield at 440 MLD. The report, formulated by Mott Macdonald Consultants (India), was submitted to the BMC’s water supply projects department on April 2.
A pre-feasibility report conducted by the same consultant a year-and-half ago had first projected a reduction in yield by 5 MLD. However, now the yield has further reduced by another 10 MLD.
Senior civic officials said the yield depended on the amount of rainfall received in the reservoir’s catchment belt, the size and the nature of the catchment, and the location of the dam. In the feasibility report, the consultants have suggested setting up a dam at Ogade, which is roughly 180kms from Mumbai.
The good news, however, is that the additional water from Gargai reservoir will be available to the city at an earlier date than what was originally planned. While the original plans were to complete the Gargai project by 2017, the civic body has now set its eyes on preponing the project schedule.
A senior engineer from the water department said the plan was to initiate construction work at the site immediately after the Middle Vaitarna project is completed in 2012. “We are already working to procure permissions needed to initiate work for the project,” the engineer said. To begin the process, the BMC will soon send the yield report and flood studies submitted by the consultant to the central works commission (CWC) for ratification. “Once the CWC ratifies it, we will approach the environment ministry for impact assessment, and seek permissions from various other departments,” the engineer added.
The consultants have also said that the city will be able to get another 865 MLD by tapping another reservoir in Pinjal. The state has asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to undertake the dam work at this site. The civic body had plans to carry out work at Pinjal reservoir after Gargai’s completion. But, with MMRDA now overseeing the work, even Pinjal is expected to bring water to the city earlier than planned.
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