BMC appoints consultant to study tremors at Gargai dam site in Palghar

The BMC decision comes after several tremors have rocked Palghar district since November last year.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday passed a proposal to appoint a government institute to study the tremors at the proposed Gargai dam site in Palghar district. The Pune-based institute Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) will study the tremor effects on the dam, while Nashik’s Central Dam Organisation will vet the dam designs. The development comes after several tremors have rocked Palghar district since November last year.

The proposed site of Gargai dam falls under seismic zone 3, which puts the dam under the risk of a moderate earthquake. (Representative Image)

The Gargai dam project, which is proposed to be built on River Vaitarna, has been stuck in the pipeline for a long time now. The proposed site of the project falls under seismic zone 3, which puts the dam under the risk of a moderate earthquake. The civic body has appointed the CWPRS to study the effects of the tremors and to work on the measures.

Once the dam is completed, it will supply about 440 million litres of water to the city every day. Though the civic body has been allocating funds to the project for three years now, there has been no progress. In the current budget of 2019-20 too the civic body has allocated ₹122 crores. The civic body will now pay ₹13.77 lakh to CWPRS and ₹19.5 lakh to CDO for the concerned study.