Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will renegotiate the contract for the proposed Gargai Dam construction project, pegged at around Rs 5,396 crore, after the civic standing committee asked the administration to bring down the project cost, which is currently about 11% higher than the original estimate.The committee sent the proposal back to the civic administration last week.On Monday, in a special meeting held with all standing committee members, civic officials briefed them about the project details, including the cost, rehabilitation of project-affected villagers, and afforestation measures linked to the project.However, committee members insisted that the proposal be brought “at par” with the original estimate, pointing out that the cost was significantly higher. Civic officials told the panel that they will renegotiate with the contractor and present a fresh proposal before the committee next week. “A fresh proposal will be worked on now and tabled before the committee, mostly by the next week. The lowest bidder was Soma Consortium, which undertook the construction of the Middle Vaitarna Dam on the Vaitarna River, and we will try to renegotiate with them,” said a civic official.Once completed, the Gargai Dam is expected to add 440 million litres per day (MLD) to Mumbai’s water supply. It will be the city’s first new reservoir since the Middle Vaitarna Dam became operational in 2014. The civic administration is targeting 2029 for completion of the project.Civic officials said the project will affect families in villages in Palghar district. As per the 2020 census, 187 project-affected families will be displaced, while 432 families are proposed to be rehabilitated under a voluntary resettlement programme. Of these, 418 families are proposed to be resettled in a designated area in line with the National Wildlife Action Plan 2017–31 to reduce the possibility of human–wildlife conflict.
