Dehrang dam water level rises, Panvel to tide over water crisis

MORE POTABLE WATER PMC to build four more water tanks to cater to Panvel’s 1.2 lakh people

Residents of Kharghar were promised gardens and playgrounds. But, it still remains a promise.

While making the framework for Kharghar, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) had promised to make a garden or playground in every sector of the node.

Two years ago, there was a proposal to develop a zodiac garden at Sector 19 of the node which was supposed to be the first theme-based garden in the area. However, Cidco has failed to build the amenities.

“The plot at Sector 19 was marked to build a butterfly garden but later it was decided to build a zodiac garden. However, nothing has been done till now,” said Kiran Patil, 35, resident of Kharghar and secretary of Pragati Rahivashi Mandal.

As per the plan, the developing authority had earmarked plots in each of the 35 sectors in Kharghar to develop a garden. But residents complained that since the development has not been done, the vacant plots are being misused by miscreants and anti-social elements.

“The open plots are being used by anti-social elements at night. Sometimes, residents dumb garbage or debris. We have been appealing to the officials for many years to develop the plots,” said Arindam Ghosh, 31, resident of Kharghar.

Officials said the work will begin soon. “We are aware on the lack of development of the plots and have also received complaints over its misuse. We will discuss the development of playgrounds with senior officials within a week and will soon take out the tenders to invite bidders for developing the gardens and playgrounds,” said Rameshwar Kushalkar, executive engineer, Kharghar Zone 1, Cidco.

Dehrang dam, that supplies water to Panvel region, saw water level rise to 25m.

Thanks to the incessant rainfall in the past one week. The rise in water level has helped Panvel Municipal Council supply 5 mld water from the dam to Panvel.

Dehrang dam’s water storage capacity is 3.57 mcm. Rainfall in June and July so far has been reported to be 2983 mm.

There are 11,000 water consumers in the city who need 26mld water daily. The dam had completely exhausted its water storage in May this year. It also had a problem of around 3 m silt having been accumulated in it.

The city, with a population of around 1.25 lakh, has been facing acute shortage of water. Potable water was supplied to the households on alternate days.

This had forced PMC which owns the dam to look for other alternatives and also resulted in Panvel getting water supply only on alternate days. The residents had been getting polluted water and at very low pressure.

A PMC official said, “To counter the problem, we have decided to construct four additional water tanks in the city. These will be constructed at Hari Om Society, Market yard, HOC colony and Sai Mandir.”

Panvel has six water tanks and its filtration plant is located near ST depot.

DESILTING HELPED INCREASE CAPACITY

In a massive clean up, 3m of silt was removed from the dam before monsoon, making space for more water.

The desilting work of Dehrang dam that had been pending for several years was finally taken up in May with support from the people of the region, including officials, contractors and elected representatives.

Panvel Municipal Council (PMC) is the only council in the state to build its own dam that is located on the foothills of Matheran. This is the biggest silt-cleaning operation ever undertaken at the dam.

The inadequate rainfall last year had been compounded by the fact that the silt in Dehrang dam has not been cleared for the past two years leading to further problem in availability of water. While there was natural cause for the water shortage, delayed decision making hit the residents hard.

With the dam virtually exhausting its water in May month, Raigad collector Sheetal Ugle despite no resolution taken by the Panvel Municipal Council used the Jalyukt Shivar scheme and coordinated with various departments to start the siltclearing work.

The silt taken out of the dam was deposited on PMC’s land above the dam. Around 5,000 saplings will be planted on it. It will also be distributed among local farmers if they ask for it for farming.