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Mumbai: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the richest municipal corporation (2009-10 Budget, Rs 19,931 crore) of the country has been allocated funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Currently, the BMC has four major projects funded through the JNNURM, with three of them having to do with that presently scarce commodity, water.
The biggest project among them is the Rs 1,600-crore Middle Vaitarna Water Supply Project. It will supplement the city’s supply by an additional 455 million litres daily (mld). Now, the total supply is 3,470 mld during normal times, with the city facing a shortfall of 630 mld. The city is now reeling under 20% water cut on top of the shortfall.
The Central government has approved Rs 1,329.5 crore of the cost for the project and will provide 35% of that amount. The project includes laying water mains and constructing a dam. The dam is expected to be over 100 metres tall, the highest in Maharashtra, and will be built in Thane district.
The other two water projects included the construction of tunnels from Malabar Hill to Cross Maidan at a cost of Rs 94 crore and from Matunga to Marol-Maroshi involving a cost of Rs 295 crore. The Centre has so far released Rs 8.22 crore for the Malabar Hill-Cross Maidan tunnel and another Rs 26 crore for the Matunga-Maroshi tunnel. At present, Mumbai is urgently in need of new tunnels as its pipes are old and 20% of water is lost through leaks.
The civic body’s ambitious Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (Phase II), by which it plans to connect the entire city to a network by 2025, has also received a positive response. The Centre approved the MSDP at a cost of Rs 364 crore, of which it will provide Rs 128 crore. It has so far released Rs 32 crore.
According to an official source, “A big advantage the BMC has compared to other municipal corporations is that it prepares good project reports. Hiring consultants has not been expensive.”
The officials added that being the financial capital of the country, the city’s projects are taken to be crucial and necessary by the Centre.
However, the BMC has had its setbacks. Earlier, the Centre refused to fund the Rs 1,000-crore Tansa water mains replacement project. The civic body is now doing the work through its own funds.
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