BMC rolls out Rs 71 crore Powai Lake clean-up plan

Mumbai: Bowing to pressure from concerned citizens and environmentalists, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has allotted the civil work on diverting the sewer water flow from Powai Lake and floated a tender for setting up a treatment plant near the site at a total cost of over Rs 71 crores.

Members of BMC-appointed Advanced Locality Management committee and NatConnect Foundation have launched a joint campaign focusing attention on the deterioration of Powai lake due to the direct inflow of untreated 18-million-litres-a-day.

The lake, with abundant biodiversity such as crocodiles, has been covered with hyacinth which the BMC failed to check despite a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order following which the public awareness campaign was launched addressing the Chief Minister and BMC Commissioner.

“We are happy that Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has directed his team led by additional commissioner Abhijit Bangar and the process of tender work has started,” said NatConnect director B N Kumar.

The work on laying sewer pipelines has been allotted to Swastik Constructions following an e-tender, papers given to ALM members at a meeting at S Ward on Friday. Stating that better late than never, ALM chairperson Pamela Cheema remarked that the people of Powai are anxiously awaiting the speedy execution of the lake clean-up.

BMC floated the tender indicating an estimated cost of Rs 3.93 crores and allotted the work to Swastik which quoted 20 per cent less at Rs 3.82 crores. The work is slated to start on July 21 with an 18-month deadline.

In a related development, the civic body floated an e-tender for Rs 68.88 crore STP at Powai. The bids were to have been opened on June 30 and details are awaited, said Milan Bhatt, an ALM member.

BMC has meanwhile commissioned harvester machines to clear the hyacinths following public pressure. But this measure proved to be grossly inadequate as the vegetation grew rapidly due to the continuous draining of sewers, NatConnect said.

The end-to-end hyacinth sheet over the lake prevents the sun rays from penetrating the lake, thus badly impacting aquatic life, Kumar pointed out.

Of late, crocodiles were spotted on the banks of the lake prompting the environmentalists to raise concern over their safety, Cheema said.

Meanwhile, NatConnect has taken up the dire strait of Powai Lake with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) which in turn asked the state environment director to take necessary action.