The much-awaited Surya Regional Water Supply Scheme in the extended western suburbs of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is on the verge of completion.
Once the project is complete, the portable water will be supplied to the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation. This will be the project’s first of the two phases. Under the second phase, the water will be supplied to the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation.
As per the plans, in the next few weeks, the testing, trial Run and commissioning procedures will be undertaken. The plan is to supply 185 million litres daily (MLD) in March 2023.
In just over a decade, there has been an exponential increase in the population in the Vasai-Virar civic jurisdiction. Due to this exponential development and population migration from South Mumbai, there has been a considerable rise in the requirement for clean drinking water.
To meet the demand, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is constructing a 403 MLD water treatment plant. The work on the intake structure is 98% through and work on the water treatment plant is 94% done.
To supply water, a total of 88 km of pipeline has been laid between the Surya River (between Palghar-Manor) and Vasai-Virar municipality jurisdiction. Also, tunnelling in Mendhwankhind has been completed. Work on Tungareshwar tunnelling is underway. Overall, 95% of phase 1 and 82% of the entire project is completed.
“The Surya project is MMRDA’s ambitious project because apart from developing infrastructure, MMRDA is conceiving its first water supply project for the western sub-region of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Phase-I scheme will provide water to Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation this year and MMRDA’s project gets finished in March. Vasai City has to speed up their internal distribution systems. We are helping them with this too. Phase-II balance 218 MLD scheme will provide water to Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation in coming months,” said SVR Srinivas, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.
