In a bid to put an end to the city’s water woes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is considering to scrap the Gargai water project and instead concentrate on the Daman Ganga-Pinjal project, which is expected to provide 2,400 MLD of water.

“Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar is of the view that we must focus on big water projects like Daman Ganga-Pinjal and not on Gargai project,” the Standing Committee Chairperson, Mr Rahul Shewale, told PTI.

“In the Commissioner’s opinion, if priority is given to Daman Ganga-Pinjal project, the city’s water requirement will be fulfilled at the earliest. The project is expected to provide 2,400 MLD (million litres per day) of water, of which the State Government will get 1,200 and BMC will get 1,200,” Mr Shewale said.

Last year, the Gujarat and Maharashtra governments and the Ministry of Water Resources of Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Par-Tapi-Narmada link and Damanganga-Pinjal link project.

Par-Tapi-Narmada link project will transfer surplus available water between Par and Tapi to the deficit areas in North Gujarat while the Maharashtra Government will get benefits through the Damanganga-Pinjal link project by way of augmentation of water supply to meet the domestic water requirements of the metropolis.

The BMC earlier had plans to tap over additional 440 MLD of water from the Gargai reservoir in Thane in two-and-half to three years.

“We are done with all technical and feasibility of the Gargai project and had zeroed in on the site. Since the site is in the forest area, we will approach the Environment Ministry for impact assessment, and seek permissions from various other departments,” a civic official said.

Mr Shewale said he would bring up the proposal before the Standing Committee soon to work out the details and get the views of corporators and the administration on it.

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