Sandeep Ashar
Treated seawater will be supplied to areas reeling from water scarcity. The hydraulic department of the BMC has decided to set up small desalination plants, each with a capacity to treat 10 million litres of seawater, in areas like Versova, Chembur, Mankhurd, Trombay, Kandivli, Malad, and Borivli.
Private contractors applying for setting up and maintaining these plants will have to carry out feasibility studies, Anil Diggikar, additional municipal commissioner, said.
When the BMC found private firms hesitant to be part of the original plan in which one demo plant was to be set up, they decided to set up full-scale nano units. Following this, 15 applicants approached the corporation.
Apart from identifying an appropriate location, technology, and feasibility, the firms will have to chart out a distribution plan. Setting up these units will take a year, Diggikar said.