Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
NMMC looks for alternative water source
SOLVING CRISIS The proposal is to divert water from Patalganga river to Morbe dam which will ensure enough stock of water in the dam
Acute shortage of water has led to Navi Mumbai which usually received 430 mld of water every day from Morbe dam, now receiving only 300 mld of water.
On the other hand, there is no possibility of either the height of Morbe dam being increased or its depth. This has led to NMMC working on a plan to look for alternative source of water from Patalganga river. The plan proposes to divert water from the river to Morbe dam which will ensure enough stock of water in Morbe dam.
According to municipal commissioner Dinesh Waghmare, “As per our plan, embankment of Patalganga will be undertaken. NMMC plans to only use the water that accumulates in rains for diversion to Morbe dam.”
He added, “This plan that will cost Rs 450 crore will help take care of the increased demand in the city. We will seek permission from the state government’s various departments.”
Navi Mumbai primarily sources it water supply from NMMC-owned Morbe dam, that is located near Khalapur in Raigad district at the Dhavri river which originates from Patalganga river. The height of dam is 88 metres and its total storage capacity stands at 190.89 million cubic meters (MCM).
Since there was below average rainfall in the Morbe dam catchment area, Navi Mumbai is facing an unprecedented water shortage. If the present status of water supply is maintained, Morbe dam will have little stock of water left by June.
Raising the height of the dam or increasing its depth is hence not going to make much of a difference. Hence stopping the flow of water in Patalgange and diverting it to Morbe has been proposed. It will ensure that even after the rains, the dam will be full in September. It will then ensure that the city gets adequate water supply throughout the year.
As compared to Morbe dam, the catchment area of Patalganga is more.
NMMC executive engineer (Morbe) Jaswant Mistry said, “We are planning to collect water during monsoon at Patalganga by embanking the river as has been done in Kolhapur and supply it to Morbe dam.”