In six months, Shivaji Park in Mumbai to have 35 wells

Unsure it would meet success, the BMC found a water source at much less depth. Pics/Ashish Raje

The Rainwater Harvesting project at Shivaji Park is finally taking off with the civic body appointing contractors to dig ring wells. The park will eventually get 35 ring wells, which would be used to water the ground and keep the area dust-free. Work on the project has started.

Officials said that despite the site being close to the sea, the water would be fresh and not salty.

The BMC has had plans to revamp Shivaji Park and apart from making it dust-free, it also wanted to make the ground greener. For this upkeep, it needs around 2.64 lakh litres of water daily but was getting hardly 50,000 litres. Under this project, although it was unsure at first, the BMC managed to find a water source immediately and does not need to dig too deep. Further, there will be recharging pits so that the groundwater is stored and reused throughout the year.

The project costs around Rs 6 crore and would give the park around 2.5 lakh litres water daily. A rainwater harvesting system had been set up here earlier toom but it was not used. The new system is expected to be ready in six months.

Also Read: Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray allocates Rs 1.3 crore from MLC funds to light up Shivaji Park

The BMC had earlier planned a sewerage treatment plant at Dadar which could generate water but it was opposed by residents and had to be cancelled.

Shiv Sena minister Aaditya Thackeray visited Shivaji Park on Thursday and took stock of the work. He tweeted, "Around 35 wells have been created and a network of pipes to ensure that least water stagnates during monsoons. This will help us not only harvest rainwater but to maintain the grounds green and with lesser dust."

Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kiran Dighavkar said, "This will help solve Shivaji Park's dust problem as we will be able to sprinkle water and maintain the ground with this water."

Thackeray also visited Chaityabhoomi where a stormwater drain outfall is being redone and beautification work is being carried out. He tweeted, "Also visited the stormwater outfall point that we are converting to a better urban space near Chaityabhoomi. Every year, lakhs of people visit the place and a dirty outfall pipe wasn't a great space for the people to wait. Hence a better designed urban space is coming up."

Rs 6 cr
Cost of the project