Thane, Jul 29 (PTI) The irrigation authorities have instructed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and four civic bodies to allocate funds for the Rs 6,394 crore Poshir dam project to be developed in Karjat taluka of Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
The Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC) has given this direction to the MMRDA and the municipal corporations of Navi Mumbai and Ulhasnagar, and municipal councils of Ambarnath and Badlapur in Thane district, who will benefit from the project to be built in Kurung village.
At 43.53 per cent, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will have to pay the biggest chunk with Rs 2,783 crore.
KIDC executive engineer Vinod Munjappa said, “The beneficiaries of the Poshir dam project should provide necessary funds for their share of the capital expenditure in the next year.
The need to develop an alternative source of water to supplement the Barvi dam has been long-standing.
Ram Patkar, president of the Farmers’ Rights Struggle Committee in Badlapur, has been a prominent voice advocating for the construction of a dam on the Poshir river.
The KIDC submitted a detailed proposal of Rs 6,394 crore to the government to develop the project. After securing essential administrative and technical approvals, the proposal was sanctioned during the legislative session in March last.
As per the chief minister’s directives, the Urban Development Department (UDD) is responsible for making funds available for this project. This necessitates the beneficiary Municipal Corporations and Municipalities under the Urban Development Department to contribute their equal share of the capital expenditure to the KIDC, an official release said.
The KIDC has directed the MMRDA and the four municipal bodies to prepare their respective shares for the upcoming year.
Out of the total project cost of Rs 6,393 crore, the MMRDA will have to contribute 33.96 per cent share with Rs 2,171.45 crore. The share of civic bodies is as follows: Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Rs 2,783 crore (43.53 per cent), Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation Rs 611.28 crore (9.56 per cent), Badlapur Municipal Council Rs 375.97 crore (5.88 per cent) and Ambarnath Municipal Council Rs 452 crore (7.07 per cent), it said.
The Poshir Dam, planned as a stone and clay structure, is designed to have a storage capacity of 349 million cubic meters of water, promising to significantly augment the water supply to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. PTI COR NP
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