More than five water projects aimed to quench the thirst of Mumbai and its rapidly growing metropolitan region are facing opposition from locals. Their demand is to first provide water to the locals and the tribal population and then go ahead with the project. The projects that are facing opposition are mostly the ones executed by the MMRDA. These include the ambitious plan to bring water from the Surya dam in Thane to the extended western suburbs,followed by dams that are to be built over Kalu and Shai. These projects are not only important for the city,but have been planned for cities that will see a demographic change in the coming decades and need infrastructure accordingly. Currently,only Mumbai and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporations in the MMR have dams. The other municipal corporations have to either source water from agencies such as the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC),the state irrigation department or jointly own a dam. With new corporations and councils coming up in the MMR,more dams are essential. For this purpose,the MMRDA decided to use the water from the Surya irrigation project for Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayander,its rental housing projects and surrounding villages in the region. The MMRDA plans to invest more than Rs 1,000 crore by which more gates will come up on the dam that will help store more water,pipelines will be laid and a treatment plant will be set up. Though it has asked for 303 MLD water from the state irrigation department,only 117 MLD has been sanctioned. Interestingly,these belts are expected to see a 30 per cent rise in population in the next decade and are already facing water woes. But the locals are putting up stiff objection. Located in Vikramgadh taluka of Thane district,the Surya dam was constructed by the state irrigation department at the cost of Rs 370 crore in the early 1990s. Twelve villages were displaced for the project. Early this month,there was a mass protest against the state governments move. The area is also seeing opposition for the Pinjar dam that is coming up in the Jawhar district of Thane,which the MMRDA is planning to construct. We have no issues with Mumbai getting water,but what about the tribals here who do not get water despite having dams in the region. The Surya dam was constructed from the funds meant for tribal development. The state government is spending Rs 1,000 crore,but is not ready to invest Rs 20 crore and provide water to the tribals, said Chintaman Vanga,BJP MLA from Vikramgadh,who is spearheading the agitation here. Almost every dam that will provide water to Mumbai is being built in these tribal belts,but the water woes in the region continue. The dam to be constructed over the Banganga river in Raigad by CIDCO is also facing protests. Upcoming projects like dams on Kalu in Murbad taluka and Shai in Shahpur taluka,90 km from Mumbai,are also facing stiff opposition from the locals. Shai was to be constructed by the Thane Municipal Corporation initially,but due to paucity of funds,the MMRDA took it up. The waters of Shai and Kalu,with the approximate capacity of 940 MLD and 1,140 MLD,was meant for the eastern region comprising cities such as Thane,Kalyan-Dombivili,Ulhasnagar,Ambernath and Badlapur. But more than 29 villages are likely to be displaced due to the project (18 for Shai and 11 for Kalu),which has also made the situation difficult. The authorities didnt even bother to officially inform the villagers or announce compensation packages. Instead,they gave contracts to build roads till the site. Secondly,with two major dams coming up in Shahpur and Murbad and the area coming under the Malshej ghat (known to receive high rainfall) the talukas will be flooded. This is one of the last patches in Thane that have dense forest cover, said Subhash Gharat,an advisor to the Kalu and Shai Dharan Virodhi Samiti and a local Shiv Sena leader. The project is still in the initial stage. We are not executing the project and it is being done by the state irrigation department. Our job is to finance these projects, said Dilip Kawathkar,joint project director (PR),MMRDA.
