BMC to set up a desalination plant, BJP raises questions on financial might

Civic officials expect a detailed report on the project by Sep 2021

In a bid to augment the water supply of the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced to set up a desalination plant, that would supply as much as 200 Million Litre Per Day (MLD) of water per day.

Mumbai is completely dependent on the surface water system as it gets water supply from seven lakes around the city. Due to the global climate change, there have been instances of delayed monsoon and inadequate rainfall in the past few years that eventually have left Mumbaikars facing 10 to 20 percent water cut annually. As a result, the civic body has decided to set up its own desalination plant, where the sea waters will be treated and will be transformed into potable water. The civic body had allotted a token Rs 5 lakh budget for taking up the job of preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR).

An international water treatment firm - 'IDE water technologies private limited' has submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Mumbai civic body for setting up the plant.

In the proposal, the firm has offered to set up a plant with a capacity to generate 200 MLD water regularly which would be further augmented to 400 MLD. It will cost around Rs 1,600 crores for setting up the plant and Rs 1,920 crores will be spent on its maintenance for 20 years. Civic officials stated a detailed report on the matter is expected by September 2021. Meanwhile, the BJP in BMC stated, when a detailed report has not been prepared then why such a project is being put up for consideration now.

"There is no report on the quality of water generated from the sea, also the additional expenses are not mentioned, yet this has been approved by the committee," Prabhakar Shinde standing committee member and group leader of the party stated.