Centre okays Rs 300 cr water tunnel for city

The 13-km tunnel will pass through Andheri, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Khar, Matunga and Mahim, and enhance water supply

The project will take five years for completion

The Central government has given the go-ahead for a 13-km long water tunnel from Maroshi Gate to Ruparel College in Mahim. The Rs 300 crore project, cleared on Friday under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is expected to boost the city’s water supply.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which submitted a proposal for this project to the Centre in February, made a presentation on Friday.

The project will take five years for completion. Water for the city is supplied via pipelines from four lakes – Tansa, Vaitarna and Upper Vaitarna. In the city, the pipelines are flanked by slums and illegal constructions – sometimes the constructions come up even over the pipes – making it difficult for BMC to repair or replace them.

 It is estimated that 20 per cent of the city’s water is lost due to leakage. “So, the BMC has decided to construct a 13-km long tunnel,” said Madhukar Kamble, chief of BMC’s hydraulic department. The Dharavi redevelopment project will take off next year and with it the water demand is also expected to go up.

The new tunnel, which will carry 1,200 mld of water, should meet this demand. It will replace the Tansa, Vaitarna and Upper Vaitarna mains.

The tunnel with a diameter of 3.6 metres – making it wide enough for labourers to enter the pipe for repair work. It will pass through Andheri, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Khar, Matunga and Mahim.