BMC to set up desalination plant to solve Mumbai's water woes

The Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) will set up a desalination plant with 200MLD capacity per day to overcome water shortage in Mumbai, anofficial said on Wednesday.

The standing committee of the civic body has givenin-principal approval to set up the desalination plant andfor appointment of consultants to prepare a detailed projectreport, a release issued by the civic body stated.

The committee gave an in-principle approval towardspayment of charges worth Rs 5.50 crore for preparing adetailed project report and Rs 40 lakh for bid documents, thecivic body's statement said.

A four-member panel chaired by the municipalcommissioner will be set up for the implementation of theproject, the release said.

According to the BMC, the desalination plant, with acapacity of 200 MLD water per day, will require a capitalinvestment of Rs 1,600 crore and Rs 1,920 crore in operationalcosts for the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which is in the Opposition in theShiv Sena-ruled civic body, has raised questions about theneed for the project and the expenses for the same.

It also lambasted the BMC for not inviting tenders orexpression of interest, while appointing the consultant.

''If 900 million litre of water leakage is prevented inMumbai city, is there any need for additional 200 millionlitre from this project?'' Prabhakar Shinde, the BJP's groupleader in the civic body said, adding that the ruling partyshould stop wasting public money.

According to the BMC, M/s I.D.E Water Technologies hadsubmitted an unsolicited proposal, when the civic body wasthinking about desalination of seawater to overcome waterissues.

The company had submitted the proposal as per theMaharashtra Infrastructure Development Enabling Authority Act2018, the release stated.

The project will be implemented by inviting bids asper Swiss challenge model, the civic body stated.

As per the company's proposal, the plant needs 6hectares of land and up to 8 hectares, if the project isexpanded, the release said.

The BMC said it has identified 12 hectares ofgovernment land under control of the Maharashtra TourismDevelopment Corporation at Manori in the western suburbs andhas started communication with the tourism authority for theland.