MUMBAI, July 22 -- To facilitate development of 71 villages off Khandala, plans to build a dam in the 186 sq km area near the hill station are underway. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will initiate a study to identify potential water sources for the reservoir that will eventually supply water. This area was part of the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) before the state government appointed MSRDC as the Special Planning Authority in March 2016. "MSRDC is the special planning authority to develop 71 villages in the 186.72 sq km area of Panvel and Khalapur taluka in Raigad district, along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It has taken the initiative to develop the special planning area and prepare a development plan," said an MSRDC official. "As per the 2011 census, this area had a population of 1,01,175, which is estimated to have increased," he added. According to the project planning document, the site is strategically located between the two important urban centres of the state, approximately 45 km away from Mumbai and 80 km away from Pune. It is between the outskirts of Panvel city and Khandala, about 20 km from Navi Mumbai. Although there are the Morbe, Devloli dams and the Patalganga River near the region, water supply from these sources to the project area is uncertain. For the dam's construction, MSRDC has decided to prepare a detailed project report over the next year. A technical consultant would be appointed and entrusted with the task of assisting MSRDC with the bidding process, drafting the contract agreement, among others. According to the official document, "The project area, being partly peri-urban and partly rural in nature, does not have a well-developed water supply, sewerage and solid waste management network." MSRDC wants to undertake the task of identifying water sources for its area. Officials said this will be a major task while preparing the development plan. The earmarked area falls under the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats biogeographic zone. The undulating topography at the foothills pose a challenge in setting up stormwater drainage and management systems. If the plans get concretised, this will be the fifth dam to be constructed in recent years within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Middle Vaitarna Dam was completed in 2014 and Surya Dam is scheduled to be ready later this year. Another two MCGM dam projects - Gargai and Pinjal - are in its planning stages....