In a welcome news on the water-front for the citizens of Mira Bhayandar and Vasai Virar, around 70 percent of the much awaited Surya Regional Water Supply Scheme has been completed and the mega project is expected to become operational in a phase-wise manner in 2023.
With the Surya Dam at Dhamani village in Jawhar as the source of raw water, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has embarked on a mission to provide bulk water supply amounting to 403 MLD which will be divided to Mira Bhayandar and Vasai-Virar in a proportion of 218 MLD and 185 MLD respectively.
A team led by Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) Mayor-Jyotsna Hasnale, deputy mayor- Hasmukh Gehlot and standing committee chief-Rakesh Shah accompanied by senior MMRDA and civic officials reviewed the on-site progress of the gravity transmission project undertaken by Larsen and Toubro Ltd. “We have been assured that the project will be completed next year which will put a permanent end to the water woes of the twin-city.” said Hasnale.
In December-2021, the project achieved a significant breakthrough of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) at Medhwankhind water tunnel with an internal diameter of 2.85m. The TBM successfully covered the length of 1.7-km for the pipeline.
Although the MMRDA will lift water and channelize it to the doorstep of the twin-city, the MBMC has to shoulder the responsibility of overhauling the entire internal pipework networking system.
Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP)- the water supply and sanitation department of the state extended a helping hand by giving its nod for overhauling the internal distribution system which carries an estimated price tag of Rs. 421.42 crores and outlays laying new pipelines (176 km), 23 elevated storage reservoirs, feeder mains (38 km) to enhance supply and eliminate in transit leakages that are hurting the water delivery system. The internal distribution scheme has been designed considering water requirements of 450 MLD in 2046.
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 hovers below 200 MLD.
