Times of India 18.07.2009

MMRDA plans to tap Shai water for Thane

SHAHAPUR: Water woes for Thane and its suburbs may soon end according to the plans made by the MMRDA. The planning authority for the MMR has mega plans to construct a dam over the Shai River in Shahapur area to supply water that would suffice the requirement of the cities till 2021.

According to sources within the MMRDA, on the lines of the Master Plan for Mumbai that was drafted in 1994, a similar map for the neighbouring civic bodies like Thane, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ambernath and Badlapur has been drafted by it. Initially, the Shai dam project was to be built by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) but it found the Rs 1,620-crore worth project financially unviable and then handed it over to the state for implementation. Later, a study on the possibility of constructing a permanent water source was undertaken in 2003 by a committee led by MMRDA to find future water sources for these areas coming under the MMR.

The plan is to execute the project in two phases. While the first part will encompass construction of the dam, the second will include development of related infrastructure like water treatment plants, pumping stations and develop transmission lines. Sources inform that while the dam construction will be undertaken by the irrigation department, other agencies like the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) will execute the second part. Once the project is underway, the MMRDA agencies will pump the water from the dam and then route it towards the respective civic bodies from the water treatment plant. The MMRDA would transport the filtered water till the boundaries of the respective civic bodies and then it would be the onus of the municipalities to deliver it to the local areas.

DT Dange, principal advisor, water supply resource management cell of the MMRDA confirmed the situation and informed that the project was still in the planning stage.

"Presently, we are working out the finer aspects of the project and will present the report in front of the Planning authority committee of the MMRDA for their approval. Once approved, the project will end the water problems being faced by the civic corporations and councils in the area," said Dange.

Speaking about the time span required for the completion, Dange informed that once approved, the land acquisitions and necessary approvals from the state forest department will have to be undertaken before starting work.