16 December,2023 07:31 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Members of the committee examine the reservoir on December 7
The Malabar Hill reservoir will be emptied for the second time on December 18 to facilitate an inspection by an expert committee. This will reduce the water supply to south Mumbai by 10 per cent. The reservoir, the central figure in the contention between residents and the civic body, was visited by the committee on December 7 too.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to construct an additional tank and repair the old reservoir on Malabar Hill has met opposition from residents. The opposition comes as the repairs would entail the removal of 389 trees at Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens, also known as Hanging Gardens.
The BMC formed a committee comprising professors from the IIT, a BMC engineer and locals to study the project. The committee is expected to review the current proposal and suggest an appropriate course of action. The committee members visited two tanks of the reservoir which were emptied on December 7. The next visit for the remaining three tanks is slated for December 18, for two hours from 8 am to 10 am.
"The tanks will be emptied to allow an internal inspection. Homes and establishments in the A, C, D, G North and G South wards will get water supply with low pressure," said a BMC official.
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Though the BMC kept mum on the impressions from the visit on December 7, Alpa Seth, a public representative on the committee, had said earlier that the reservoir is in good shape.
The 143-year-old Malabar Hill reservoir supplies 147 MLD (million litres per day) of water mainly in south Mumbai. The Hanging Gardens have been created over this reservoir. According to civic documents, the proposal involved chopping 189 trees and transplanting 200 trees. The civic body approved the proposal in February 2022, at an estimated project cost of R698.50 crore. The work was to be done in phases over the next seven years and was expected to be completed by the end of 2029. BMC officials said the project would increase the capacity of the reservoir from 147.78 million litres to 191 million litres.
