31.7.19

Maharashtra clears river-linking plan for drought-hit parts

The Maharashtra state cabinet agreed to implement the Damanganga-Pinjal river-linking project—originally meant to involve Gujarat as well—on its own. The Rs.10,800-crore project is expected to divert 73 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water towards drought-prone Marathwada and North Maharashtra as well as Mumbai. Officials claim 31 tmc will come to Mumbai from the project and could solve the city’s water needs till 2060.

The project has been in cold storage for over two years since Gujarat didn’t agree to a water swap of 15 tmc.

The project will tap excess water from the Damanganga, Pinjal, Nar, Par and Tapi rivers, which would otherwise have flown into the sea. Of the 73 tmc expected in the state, 25 tmc will go to Marathwada, 11 tmc to North Maharashtra’s Girna dam which gives water to Kalwan, Satana and Malegaon, 15 tmc to Jalgaon in the Tapi basin and 21 tmc to Mumbai.

The state hopes to begin tendering on river linkages by December once environmental feasibility is completed. The BMC is expected to contribute Rs.2,754 crore.

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