Kharghar, Taloja residents not sold by CIDCO’s assurance of increased water supply | Mumbai news

PANVEL: The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) said it is working to address the acute water shortage in Kharghar and Taloja areas and assured an increase in water supply in stages by August. The residents, who have demanded a halt to new projects in the region, however, called the measures “too little”, and said they cannot see any resolution to their woes till 2028.

Hindustan Times reported on April 2 about housing societies in the rapidly growing suburbs of Kharghar and Taloja urging CIDCO to stop issuing Commencement Certificates (CC) and Occupation Certificates (OC) to new projects as the area is already reeling under acute water shortage. The Kharghar Cooperative Housing Societies Federation had written to CIDCO and met its officials, providing details of 125 housing societies facing a 30-50% water cut. Residents here use water supplied by tankers and fear the situation would worsen if new projects were sanctioned without any alternative source, the Federation had stated.

Responding to the demand, a CIDCO official said, “Under the Hetawane Water Supply Scheme, work to replace the Break Pressure Tank (BPT) near Dighati village was completed recently. Connections will be done during a shutdown planned on April 8 and 9. This will improve water supply partially.”

Additionally, the 1500mm diameter concrete water pipe along the Bhogeswari river, from Ganpatiwadi to Tarankhop, is being replaced with 1800mm diameter MS water pipe. The work is expected to be completed by July end. “After the completion of both works, water supply will increase by around 10 to 15mld per day by August. This will help in resolving the irregular water supply that Kharghar city faces. Also, the current need for water supply through tankers in some places will not be needed.”

Residents, however, are not convinced. “We have been suffering for months due to water shortage and have been receiving several such assurances regularly. The ground situation is that there is limited water for a limited time supplied by CIDCO,” said Aziza Chaudhary, a resident of Royal Residency of sector 20 Kharghar. “Recently, our society dug a borewell to source water. But that water cannot be used for all purposes and hence the difficulty continues.”

SH Kalawat, general secretary of the Federation, said CIDCO’s Hetawane dam supply is at present up to 170mld, even though the sanction is for 270mld. Of this, only 67mld is available for Kharghar and Taloja which usually needs 100mld and increases to over 105mld in summer. “We have been told that Kharghar and Taloja will get additional 4mld after completion of BPT bypass work this month. In August, we may get additional 7mld after pipeline modification work. It will still not suffice as the demand continues to rise,” said Kalawat. “The Hetawane Dam Tunnel project and Water Treatment Plant (WTP) work is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. That is when CIDCO will be able to draw the full allotted sanctioned quota of 270 mld. So basically, we will have to suffer shortage till 2028 end.”

Calling talk of new dams misleading, Kalawat said the 350mld Kondane dam project of CIDCO is likely to be completed in six years, and that water is meant for NAINA. The 350mld Balganga dam project belongs to the irrigation department and not meant for Kharghar and Taloja nodes. “We are all being taken for a ride by the authorities with promises of adequate water supply, which is not going to be in the immediate future. This is why we are insisting that CIDCO stop CC and OC in the nodes till 2028, so that the situation doesn’t worsen further,” he said.