Mira Bhayandar: Rain harvesting dam near SGNP not feasible, says state irrigation department

The state irrigation department has poured water on the ambitious plans chalked out by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) of constructing a rain harvesting dam on the outskirts of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Kashimira.

Mooted by legislator-Geeta Jain, last year, the proposal aimed with a dual objective- to create a natural rainwater catchment area and store the water in the reservoir formed by the dam and at the same time try and put an end to the havoc owing to water gushing from the hillocks into nearby settlements during heavy downpours.

After examining the technical aspects, geological investigations and topographical survey, officials from the state irrigation department concluded that the proposed site was not suitable for the dam which needed a minimum space of nearly 17 acres and acquiring such a huge forest area was not possible.

Moreover, an expected augmentation of just four MLD supply and that too only during the rainy season had made the project largely unfeasible coupled with the immense cost factor.

As against the requirement of over 225 MLD, the twin-city has an allotted supply of 211 MLD provided jointly by the MIDC (125 MLD) and STEM (86 MLD) water supply authority.

However, the actual supply continues to hover below 200 MLD as the twin-city is still losing a huge quantity of potable water in transit daily owing to leakages, unaccounted supply and theft.