TOI: City to get 100 mld more water from bhatsa dam beginning today: January 07, 2009

Phatak told TOI the water will be pumped from the dam immediately in the wake of the water crisis. The water is being supplied on the condition that the BMC coughs up arrears of Rs 148 crore over the next two years to the state government. 

The deal effectively means the BMC would have met part of the daily shortfall of 780 mld. At the moment, water supply is only 3,470 mld as against the demand of 4,250 mld.

Officials said the water will be lifted in phases, after upgrading the lifting capacity and pumping quality of the existing network. Bhatsa already supplies about 1,715 mld of water to city. While the Bhatsa deal has come through, another 150 mld is being sought from Morbe dam, Navi Mumbai.

However, the cost of laying pipelines is Rs 100 crore and the water will be available for not more than three years. But another 450 mld is expected to come from the Rs 1,600-crore Middle Vaitarna III project scheduled to be completed by 2011. 

“We have agreed to clear all dues to the state. At the moment, we do don’t have other options to end this temporary shortage due to repair work on the sluice gates of the Upper Vaitarna dam,’’ said a senior BMC official.

But doubts are already been raised over administration’s ability to distribute this water judiciously between the suburbs. On Monday, irked corporators had even suggested that narco-analysis test be conducted on BMC commissioner and the water department chief engineer alleging water is being inequitably distributed between the city and suburbs.

Senior officials said 100 mld would be mainly supplied to areas in the eastern suburbs, and if need be, lifted over to areas in the western suburbs too.

   “A large chunk of this 100 mld should ideally come to the western suburbs as it is receiving less water compared to other suburbs,’’ said Yogesh Sagar, BJP corporator from Kandivli.

   Areas between Goregaon and Dahisar get only 620 mld of water for a population of 31 lakh, while the entire eastern suburbs — with a population of about 35 lakh — get 1,025 mld of water. The island city receives 1,142 mld of water for a population of 36-40 lakh.

BHATSA DAM

The dam — the city’s largest water source which supplies 1,715 mld — was completed in 1981. The same year, Bhatsa phase 1 was completed. It provides 455 mld of water to the city. Supply from the lake was augmented by another 455 mld in 1989 through Bhatsa 2, 455 mld through Bhatsa 3 (1996) and 350 mld from Bhatsa 3(a) (2007). The BMC can draw another 100 mld from January 7, provided it pays arrears of Rs 148 cr over two years to the state irrigation department

CITY’S LIFELINES

Upper and Lower Vaitarna: 1,142 mld

Tulsi: 18 mld

Bhatsa: 1,715 mld

Tansa: 485 mld

Vihar: 110 mld
Some water from these lakes goes to Thane as well

THE LONG WAY

The water will be brought from the 48-km long Bhatsa River to a small dam in Pise. From there it will pumped to Panjrapur (8km from Pise) for filtration. Through a network of pipelines on the Thane-Nashik bypass, it will then be brought to the Eastern suburbs. It will be primarily be supplied to areas between Bhandup to Vikhroli, Ghatkopar, Chembur, Mankhurd, Govandi, Parel and Mazgaon.

Population: 36 lakh

Supply: 1,142 mld

Population: 28 lakh

Supply: 660 mld

Population: 31 lakh

Supply: 620 mld

Population: 35 lakh

Supply: 1,025 mld

WATER WOES

Water Mumbai needs: 4,250 mld

Water Mumbai gets: 3,470 million litres daily (mld) (An additional 450 mld will come from the Middle Vaitarna III project in 2011)
Water lost due to leakage and pilferage: 20 per cent or 694 mld Daily shortfall: 780 mld

Expected water supply by 2011: 3,855 mld

Expected Demand by 2011: 4,225 mld

Island City: 1,205 mld

Eastern suburbs: 1,245 mld

Western suburbs: 1,775 mld

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The city’s hundred-year-old pipelines will continue leaking for a while as the new-age tools the BMC was supposed to procure to fix the problem may take longer to arrive.

The civic body had been in talks with firms in Singapore and Malaysia over the last few months to buy ground penetration radars (GPRs) and aqua loggers. But according to civic officials, the firms have said it will not be feasible for them to come to India with their equipment for a demonstration due to the prohibitive costs. “The firms say it is too expensive to bring their equipment without an assurance they will be selected. But how can we give them an assurance even before the devices are tried here?’’ asked a senior civic official. “They gave us the option of going there to see how the instruments function, but that won’t make much sense as conditions in our city are extremely different from cities where the firms are based,’’ he added. “Even aqua loggers need to be installed on water mains and they need direct contact with metal. We need to check their sustainability in the city,’’ he said.

However, some experts say the equipment will do little to tackle the cluster of underground utilities—over 26 of them—in the city. “The leakages are spotted using electro-magnetic waves. But magnetic waves often fail to identify the exact leakage spot amid a cluster of utilities,’’ said BJP corporator from Kandivli, Yogesh Sagar.

Mumbai’s water pipe network is nearly 4,600 km long. Most pipes from lakes to filtration plants are not underground, but the mains from filtration plans to reservoirs and the distributor mains, are underneath. Though the civic body is using conventional methods to detect leakages, the radars that cost about Rs 2 crore each will provide a detailed description of underground utilities. A senior civic official from the hydraulic department said, “Once we know saturation spots, we will be able to identify the leaks. This will be especially helpful in areas like Girgaum, which have frequent contamination,’’ he said.

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