Will set up new treatment plants even without Centre’s help: BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will undertake desalination and waste water treatment projects through public-private partnerships if the financial assistance it asked for from the Centre doesn’t come through.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will undertake desalination and waste water treatment projects through public-private partnerships if the financial assistance it asked for from the Centre doesn’t come through.

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The BMC has shortlisted four sites for desalination plants and six sites for waste water treatment units.

Municipal Commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya said the process for inviting tenders for a sewage treatment plant at Ghatkopar has already begun.

He said the projects would supply the city with water for non-potable use, reducing the wastage of potable water.

“We wrote to the Centre for assistance along the lines of that given to Chennai, but if the funds don’t come through we will pursue these projects anyway,” said Kshatriya.

The city produces 2,600 million litres of sewage a day. If treated, it would suffice for non-potable needs such as washing and gardening.

The treated water might be supplied to bulk consumers, such as the railways and the civic bus service. Currently, potable water is used to wash trains and buses.

Coprorator Ashish Shelar said the Centre wrote to the BMC, saying there was no need for a desalination plant. The Centre pointed out, said Shelar, that the BMC could not compare Mumbai to Chennai as the annual rainfall in Mumbai is double that of the Tamil Nadu capital’s.

“The city needs these alternative water sources as you cannot predict how much rain the city will get in the future,” said Kshatriya.