BMC to impose a 20% water cut in Mumbai next week
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The city’s civic body will be imposing a water cut next week to commission the first phase of the tunnel between Gundavali to Bhandup Water Complex.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will impose a 20 percent water cut across the city on August 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 and September 1. During the water cut, elevated areas and highrise residents will be affected more owing to the low water pressure.
In the first phase of the implementation, the civic body will undertake the commissioning of the tunnel from Gundavali to Kapurbawadi. The latter part will be taken up in the subsequent weeks and would require a few weeks to commission.
Mumbai’s primary sources of water like Vaitarna, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna etc directly send raw water to the Bhandup Complex treatment plant. However, a majority of pipelines carrying the water are a century old and in dire need of replacement. The old pipelines have also led to frequent leakages, bursts and more contamination.
Once the 5,500 mm diameter tunnel from Gundavali to Bhandup Water Complex is complete, it will be able to supply 4,000 million litres of water daily. The tunnel will also be able to accommodate the additional supply from the proposed Pinjal and Gargai dams.
Earlier, during BMC’s budget speech in February this year, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had announced that the 15 km tunnel from Gundavali, Thane to Bhandup Water Complex would be commissioned by June this year. However, the plan hit a roadblock due to some unforeseen problems.
