Balganga River Project will send 13 villages in Raigad district under water

The Balganga River Project which is expected to supply drinking and industrial water to Panvel Nerul and Karjat is expected to entirely submerge 216 ha of Raigad districtrsquos forest landThe state water resources department has sent a forest clearance proposal for the diversion of the land to the ministry of environment forest amp climate change MOEFampCC According to the proposal the projectmdashwhich is to come up in the districtrsquos Pen taluka is situated at the Balganga rivermdashwhich originates from the Patalganga river basin and joins the Arabian Sea near Dharmatar creekThe proposal reads ldquoPlanned storage of the project is 14469 mm3 and water storage is supposed to be used for drinking and industrial water supply to suburban areas of MMR region suburban4 New Mumbai suburban5 Nerul Karjat Khopoli Khalapur and suburban6 Panvel and Uranrdquo The project is being executed by the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation KIDC for the City and Industrial Development Corporation CIDCOThe project comprises an earthen dam that is 1170 metres long and 4015 metres tall The water storage capacity of the dam is 144168 million litres per day MLD while its live storagemdashthe amount of water that can be released through the damrsquos gates that can be used for flood control or to generate electricitymdashis 12007 MLDAlso Read The big holes in BMCrsquos potholefilling claimThe submergence area of the project comprises more than 14200 ha of private land 3124 ha of government land and 25336 ha of forest land and spans 13 villagesmdashJawali Nifad Karoti Washivali Ashte Mohili Khalsa Karambeli Varsai Padale Nidhawali Mohili Budruk Gagode Budruk and GagodekhurdThe proposal says ldquoNavi Mumbai is growing fast with the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport Project Water demand in this region will grow substantially in the coming years Water is supplied to Navi Mumbai from the assured source of the Hetawane Water Supply Scheme NMMCrsquos Morbe dam project and MIDCrsquos Barvi Dam Project The Balganga Dam Project will primarily supply water to areas under the Panvel Municipal Corporation and CIDCO nodes such as Kharghar Kamothe Kalamboli Taloja Dronagiri Ulwe and Pushpak and the Navi Mumbai International Airportrdquo A total of 1854 families are being rehabilitated and the compensation distribution for them is in progress It says 1563032 ha of nonforest land will be submergedA note on costbenefit analysis for the forest land required for the project says ldquoIt has been planned as a drinking water project for the augmentation of water supply for CIDCO and other areas so as to satisfy the demand for water in the future The water available for drinking is 350 MLD throughout the year Due to the construction of this project the water table in the command area will rise to a considerable extent resulting in saving on water supply during scarcityrdquo The note also says that the project will help increase tree growth ldquoDue to the creation of the reservoir water will percolate through the adjoining forest along the reservoir periphery It is assumed that about 200metres wide forest area along the 35km periphery of the reservoir will benefitrdquo144168Storage capacity of the dam in million litres a day