avi Mumbai: The water scarcity issue in the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) area has reopened the demand to source water from the 110 MLD-capacity Morbe dam in Panvel taluka. The dam is located on the outskirts of Taloja MIDC and also beyond the PCMC limits, but the irrigation department’s dam water is given to few private persons.The PCMC opposition leader has demanded water sourcing and supply through installing a filtration plant, but the civic body claims that it is not possible. The PCMC executive engineer (water supply) Vilas Chavan said, “We have attempted to take over the dam. But the dam has been allocated to a few persons for their project in Aug 2019. Hence the dam water cannot be drawn.”The 66.5-m height Morbe Dam – Panvel construction was started in 1970 and completed in 1974. It has a supply capacity of 2 MLD. Its water storage area spreads over 45.7 acres out of its total area of 243 hectares. Morbe, Chinchvali, Dohere Pada and Kondle villages receive water from the dam downstream.PCMC opposition leader and former vice-president of the Raigad Zilla Parishad, Arvind Mhatre, claimed the dam water can be used by investing Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore towards laying a pipeline, filtration unit and other required infrastructure. He, along with a Congress corporator, Haresh Keni, had recently visited the dam.
