Mira-Bhayandar: As the much awaited 218 million litre per day (MLD) Surya Regional Water Supply Scheme being executed under the aegis of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) inches towards completion, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has also fast-tracked its project to overhaul the internal water network system to facilitate smooth distribution in the twin-city.
The internal distribution scheme which has been designed on a one-time-planning basis considering a water requirement of 450 MLD in 2046 is expected to be completed before April, 2025. The master plan of the project outlines laying new pipelines (176 km), constructing 23 elevated storage reservoirs (ESR), sumps and feeder mains (38 km) to enhance supply and eliminate in transit leakages that are hurting the water delivery system. “The project is going at a satisfactory pace. We are carrying out digging for pipe laying in tandem with the ongoing road concreting work to minimize inconvenience to citizens and also ensure that shifting of underground cables laid by various utility agencies is done in a planned and coordinated manner.” said civic chief-Sanjay Katkar.
Pipes Being Unloaded | FPJ
“Nearly 30 percent of the project has been completed in the past couple of months. Laying of new pipelines along with the process of soil testing, trial bores and piling for most of the elevated ESR, ground service reservoir (GSR) and sumps having a collective capacity to store over 144 million litres (ML) water is being carried out by contractors under the supervision of our engineers.” said city engineer- Deepak Khambit.
Funding Pattern
The Rs.516.78 crore project is being executed under the central government sponsored-Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0. As per the funding pattern, the central and state government has extended a financial grant of Rs.172.24 crore (33.33%) and Rs.189.50 crore (36.67%) respectively, while the remaining expense of Rs.155.04 crore (30%) will have to be shouldered by the civic administration. Notably, the MBMC has sought financial assistance amounting Rs.126 crore from the central divisive tax pool of the finance commission to reduce its financial burden.
Ongoing Boring work for ESR 2 |
Current Scenario
As against the requirement of more than 225 MLD, the twin-city has an allotted supply of 221 MLD, provided jointly by the MIDC (135 MLD) and Shahad Temghar (STEM) water authority (86 MLD) water supply authority. However, the actual supply continues to hover between 185 to 190 MLD due to short supply from both the agencies. To add to the woes a huge quantity of potable water is lost in transit on a daily basis owing to leakages, unaccounted supply and theft.
