Consultant appointed to evaluate designs for desalination project in Mumbai

This picture has been used for representational purpose

A consultant has been appointed to evaluate the designs that have come in from the Israeli firm which is interested in developing a desalination project for Mumbai. The study, that will have all details necessary for the project to start, is nearing completion. As per the plan, initially, the plant will work on 200 million litres per day (MLD) of sea water daily, which may increase to 400 MLD in the second phase. Desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater.

The BMC is in the process of finalising the study for the desalination plant at Manori. The project is estimated to cost Rs 1,600 crore, and maintenance for 20 years will cost another Rs 1,920 crore. The BMC had appointed Israeli company IDE Water Technologies Ltd, which gave an unsolicited proposal for the project in February 2021. The cost of the report was Rs 5.90 crore, and the drafting of the tender was supposed to be completed within eight months. Now, after a year, the BMC has appointed another consultant to cross-check and verify the report.

"The standing committee approved M/s SMEC India to evaluate the detailed project as well as the tendering process. The company will also appoint experts to supervise the construction as per the plan for the next 42 months," said an official from the BMC. The cost of the consultation is Rs 10.63 crore. The desalination project is expected to be completed within 30 months after construction starts.

The BMC has chosen a desalination project over the Gargai dam project. An engineer from the hydraulic department said, "The Gargai dam project was supposed to provide 440 MLD water but it may affect over four lakh trees in Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary. Also, a thousand homes would have to be shifted in the Palghar district."

Rs 1,600
The estimated cost of the desalination project