BMC plans to use overflowing Vihar Lake water for city supply

During the monsoon, if high tide is accompanied by heavy rainfall, water overflows from Vihar Lake. File pic

In a city which is perennially water starved, the requirement at the moment is to not waste a single drop. Considering this, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with a water supply vision for the next decade. It plans to construct a tunnel that would take the water overflowing from Vihar Lake to the Bhandup Complex Water Treatment Plant or Airoli Creek. This would also help increase the water supply to the city from 3,850 millions of litres per day (MLD) to 5,800 MLD.

In the budget, the civic body has mentioned, "During monsoon, if high tide is accompanied by heavy rainfall, the water overflowing from Vihar Lake is discharged in Mithi River and leads to a flood-like situation. Tender for doing a feasibility study of transferring the overflowing water to Bhandup Complex Water Treatment Plant or Airoli Creek has been invited. A budget provision of R2.69 crore has been proposed for this work."

As the need for drinking water is going to increase in the coming years, the BMC plans to undertake development of the Gargai Project. Once completed, the Gargai Project will provide 440 MLD of water to Mumbai. A total of R503.51 has been allocated for the project."

"Due care is being taken to rehabilitate project affected people, including providing cash compensation and a job per family as per government norms. A provision of R199.40 crore has been made for rehabilitation works," said the BMC in its budget.

The civic body has further mentioned in its budget that reuse of recycled wastewater and harvesting of rainwater shall be mandated for the purpose of toilet flushing and other non-potable building activities. This would reduce the load on water supply by at least 1350 MLD (50 per cent of the total 2,700 MLD required for sewage work).

"The contracts for sewage treatment plants (STP) include a compulsory clause which mentions that contractors will have to supply at least 20 per cent recycled water to bulk water users. While approving building plans of large schemes, use of STP for reuse of recycled water is mandated along with rainwater harvesting. To ensure use of recycled water from these STPs, housing societies will be given 5 per cent rebate on property tax upon compliance. The long-term vision for MCGM is to reduce the demand for fresh water from 135 litres per capita per day (LPCD) to 90 LPCD by using harvested rainwater and treated sewage water. A provision of R402.55 crore has been proposed for the Mumbai Sewage Project in 2020-21," the budget states.

Rs 402.55 cr
Allocation for the 2020-21 Mumbai Sewage Project

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