‘Centre’s help needed to set up desalination plant’

Mumbai:The BMC will seek financial assistance from the Centre for setting up city’s first desalination plant.
Municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya, who went on a study tour to Chennai, said if BMC has to base its model on Chennai’s, then it would need some help from the central government.
It is estimated that the municipal corporation would need at least 20 acres of land along the western coastline, for which it has sought help from the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT).
“We are exploring two possibilities; one is part financial assistance from the central government and another to seek land from the port authorities who are managing the western coastline. As soon as a proposal is prepared, we will move in these directions,’’ Kshatriya said.
About 18 firms have submitted expressions of interest to carry out a feasibility study. Their job would be to set up plants with a capacity of 10 mld at various places near the coastline. Another project in the pipeline is to set up a plant with a capacity of 10 million litres daily at a cost of Rs 125 crore on navy land at Colaba.
By setting up desalination plants, the BMC hopes to make sea water potable. This comes at a crucial time when the city is facing its worst water crisis ever.
Kshatriya said once the study is complete, BMC would identify a suitable technology for desalination, chalk out a financial framework and a distribution network for treated water.
“Though reverse osmosis (RO) is popular for desalination, we can’t rule out the use of other technologies,’’ Kshatriya said.

CIVIC NOD FOR CITIZENS’ PLAN

Additional municipal commissioner Anil Diggikar on Monday approved a plan put forward by a citizens’ group to help the BMC tide over the water crisis.
The group comprising Gerson D’Cunha of Action for Good Governance and Networking for India (AGNI), historian Sharada Dwivedi, former municipal commissioner V Ranganathan and others had met civic chief Swadheen Kshatriya a fortnight ago with immediate, short-term and long-term suggestions to tackle the water crisis. ‘‘If the crisis is not tackled soon, we would face great trouble. We have to plan at the earliest and make sure the city tides over this water crisis,’’ said Dwivedi.
The suggestions include auditing pipelines across the city, audit city wells and so on. According to members of the delegation, a sustained effort by citizens to help the BMC save water is the need of the hour.
“There should be timely audits regarding the water situation. Officials should have periodic checks on water meters. We, on our part, can spread awareness with ad campaigns and so on,’’ said D’Cunha.

Source: TOI, 2nd Feb, 2010