BMC to spend Rs 3,105 cr on Gargai dam

MUMBAI: In order to increase Mumbai water supply, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to pay Rs 3,105 crore for the construction of the Gargai dam. The dam had been planned more than a decade ago but remained pending all along. The Corporation has finally decided to initiate construction work of the dam in order to augment water availability in Mumbai by 440 million litres per day. The dam will cause the displacement of six villages.

Considering the fact that Mumbai approximately receives 3,800 million litres of water every day and authorities expect the demand to increase to 5,490 million litres a day by 2041, the Government of Maharashtra and the BMC had planned two dams, Gargai and Pinjal, along with a river-linking project called Damanganga-Pinjal.

Pinjal dam is supposed to add 880 million litres, while the river link will add 1,586 million litres, thus covering the deficit. The civic administration has finally brought a comprehensive note on the Gargai dam project before the civic standing committee, which shows that the total project cost stands at ₹3,105 crore.

The Gargai dam will be constructed in the Palghar district. 840 hectares of land will be submerged due to the dam out of which, 670 hectares is forest land while a certain portion of the land is privately owned. In addition to this, the dam will displace residents of six villages in Palghar district: Ogada, Khodade, Tilmala, Pachghar, Fanasgaon and Aamle.