Vaitarna dam work completed in record 3 years

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday completed the roller-compacted concrete (RCC) work on the Middle Vaitarna dam project, which is expected to augment the water supply to the city by 455 million litres daily (MLD), in a record time.

The BMC has claimed that the work on the country’s second RCC dam (first one is Bhakra Nangal) was completed in less than three years. Former Union environment minister Dr Jaipal Reddy performed the bhumi pujan of the project on August 18, 2009.

“The RCC work of the dam has been completed in a record time. Civic staffers have not only completed the work in a short time, but also ensured that quality has been maintained,” said municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte, while announcing the achievement to Mumbaikars, whose daily water requirement is of 4,500 MLD.      

While majority of the dam work has been completed, works like fabrication and installation of gates will be carried out after the monsoon, Kunte said. “This year we should be able to store water to 70% of the dam’s capacity. By next year, we should be able to store water to its full capacity,” he said.

He added that water stored in the new dam will be released to Modak Sagar dam and from there to the city. “Work of adding water carriage capacity and filtration of the same at Modak Sagar is going on,” the civic chief added. The BMC used special advanced RCC techniques to carry out the work, which it said, has saved two years’ time and cut expenses by 40%.