The plan to set up a water desalination plant in the city has gained momentum as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday, June 28, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Israeli IED Technologies to prepare a DPR (detailed project report) for a 200 MLD desalination plant at Manori.
The plant will help in making the seawater usable for various non-drinking purposes like gardening, industrial use.
The MoU was signed at the Sahyadri Guest House in the presence of Chief Minister, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray, Consul General of Israel Yakov Finkelstein, IDE Water Technology office bearers, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, MMRDA Commissioner S. Srinivas.
Maharashtra Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray stated that the plant, which will be ready by 2025, will help reduce the city's dependence on the monsoon for drinking water in times of climate change.
Along with water security for Mumbai, and possibilities of capacity augmentation, this desalination plant will help us avoid financial and ecological costs of dam construction, saving almost 4.5 lakh fully mature trees, ecology and thousands of crores further required, he added.
Along with water security for Mumbai, and possibilities of capacity augmentation, this desalination plant will help us avoid financial and ecological costs of dam construction, saving almost 4.5 lakh fully mature trees, ecology and thousands of crores further required (2/n) pic.twitter.com/qGObM9xw8c
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) June 28, 2021
Moreover, Aaditya Thackeray suggested that more desalination plants be set up along the coast of the state.
Also Read: Manori desalination plant will help us save 4 lakh trees: BMC
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray described it as a revolutionary step. CM Uddhav Thackeray said the plant was his 'dream project'.
There are already many countries in the world that have started using seawater on a large scale by desalinating it. Every technology has a price but human life is more valuable than that and we all have a responsibility to make drinking water available 24 hours in Mumbai. While doing this, it is necessary to think about how many dams to build and how many trees to cut down and desert the land and adopt an alternative route. With this in mind, the seawater desalination project is now coming to fruition. From 2025, the project will start supplying pure water. This project will definitely bring relief to Mumbaikars, added Uddhav Thackeray.
The Israeli embassy in Mumbai also took note of this and tweeted congratulating in Marathi Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Thank you, @CMOMaharashtra @OfficeofUT for gracing the event and stressing the importance of #water cooperation between #Maharashtra & #Israel. *"जल ही जीवन है।"* @mybmc @IDETechnologies @IqbalSinghChah2 https://t.co/uYlroOD77x
— Yaakov Finkelstein (@Yaakov_FINKLSTN) June 28, 2021
On February 8, the standing committee had approved a proposal for a detailed project report on a desalination plant in the civic body. As per the proposal, the estimated cost of the project is INR 1,600 crores and maintenance for 20 years will cost an additional INR 1,920 crores.
Share
Tweet
