The grandiose desalination project has not materialised, despite its intended 200 million liters per day (MLD) increase in the city’s water supply. The civic body has not been able to find a qualified bidder eight months after the original tender was released.
Due to claims of cartelisation by the Congress party and potential bidders’ inability to meet technical standards, the project was retried. Nevertheless, the BMC has extended the deadline to August 29 because they have only received one bid.
Currently, the city receives 3,900 million litres of water per day from the BMC. But every year during the monsoon, the city’s dependence on its seven lakes for drinkable water creates anxiety. The BMC has restarted a large-scale desalination project with the goal of increasing the water supply in order to address this.
The 200 million liters per day (MLD) capacity of the projected desalination plant in Manori, Malad, is expected to be increased to 400 MLD in the future. The facility, whose projected cost is Rs. 3,520 crores, is anticipated to be operational within the next four years.
Despite multiple extensions to the tender deadline, the civic body received limited interest from bidders. Two bids were submitted by the July 10 deadline, but the tender was refloated after project consultants identified technical issues with the bidders’ documents.
Source: The Free Press Journal
