Gargai Dam is an important project to address the future water shortage in Mumbai. The Gargai project has been planned to meet the water demand of the growing population, but the permission for this project has been delayed by the Forest Department.
Forest department delays permission for Gargai Dam
A meeting was held in April for the Gargai Dam under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.In this meeting, orders were also given to complete the necessary procedures for this project and complete this project as soon as possible.
The same amount of land that will be submerged for the Gargai Dam should be used for afforestation, but the permission for this project is currently pending as no land has been available for afforestation.The current municipal administration has appealed to provide such a large amount of land. Approximately 658 hectares of land will be required for this Gargari Dam. Currently, 380 hectares of land have been obtained, but 279 hectares of land have not been obtained yet.Therefore, the permission for this project has been blocked by the Forest Department.
An application was made in 2020 itself regarding the need for permission from the Forest Department and Wildlife Department for this Gargai Dam, but permission has not been received in this regard.The Forest Department has said that the land that will be used for this dam, i.e. the land that will be submerged, should be made available for afforestation through alternative means.To resolve the issue of not being able to obtain such a large amount of land, the Municipal Corporation administration has asked all the district collectors in the state if any government land of such a large amount is available.As a result, the municipal corporation is making efforts to complete this project by making this land available and obtaining the necessary permits for this project.
The government has taken up the Gargai Dam project to address the future water concerns of Mumbaikars. Mumbai currently receives water supply from 7 dams.Due to this year’s monsoon, there is currently ample water storage in all seven dams, but this dam project is very important to prevent water shortages in the future.A meeting was also held in April under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for this project. Chief Minister Fadnavis is also paying special attention to this project.But due to the lack of permission from the Forest Department and the Forest Department, the work on this project is currently at a standstill.
Even after the permitting process for the Gargai Dam is complete, it will take at least four to five years to complete the project.Also, for this project, the municipal administration has already spent Rs 22 crore on 380 hectares of land. Speaking about this project, Mumbai Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Abhijit Bangar mentioned various issues.When this project was proposed in 2019, the total cost of this project was 3100 crores, but no concrete steps have been taken on this project after 2019, so the cost of this project is sure to increase.
The total capacity of this dam is also enough to hold 440 million liters of water, so it will definitely increase the number of dams supplying water to Mumbai. Also, the overall work of this project will affect approximately five to six villages.The villages of Ogde and Khodde will be completely affected, while the villages of Phanasgaon, Panchghar, Amle, and Tilmal will be partially affected. Therefore, the administration is also responsible for the proper rehabilitation of the people of the affected villages.Therefore, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation will also bear the expenses for land acquisition and rehabilitation for them.