Mumbai, March 10 -- The long-awaited Gargai dam project, meant to augment Mumbai's water supply by 440 million litres per day (MLD), has moved a step closer to reality. A Rs.5,396-crore proposal will be placed before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC's) standing committee on Wednesday for sanction, according to officials aware of the developments. Two companies have bid for the project, officials said. Hyderabad-headquartered Soma Enterprise quoted Rs.3,334 crore, while Mumbai-based Hindustan Construction Company submitted a bid of Rs.3,493 crore. Both bids are higher than the BMC's estimate of Rs.3,006 crore. Apart from construction costs, the project includes substantial expenditure on rehabilitation and environmental measures. Rehabilitation and resettlement of residents from six affected villages is estimated to cost Rs.133 crore, while the transplantation of about 310,000 trees is expected to cost Rs.233 crore. The civic administration has sought administrative approval for Rs.5,396 crore, including 18% GST, 8% water taxes, and 10% other civic taxes, along with operations and maintenance for two years. Of the total cost, dam construction is estimated at Rs.1,776 crore, while tunnelling works are pegged at Rs.400 crore. The dam is expected to be completed within 48 months, excluding monsoons. The Gargai dam will be the largest water supply project undertaken by the BMC since the Middle Vaitarna dam was completed in 2014. The project was recommended by noted hydrologist Dr Madhav Chitale. Mumbai currently sources its water from seven reservoirs-Tansa, Modak Sagar, Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Bhatsa, Tulsi and Vihar-located 100-175 km from the city. The proposed dam will be built on the Gargai River near Ogde village in Wada taluka of Palghar district. It will be 69 metres high and 979.4 metres long, and will be connected to the Modak Sagar reservoir through a 1.6-km water tunnel. The BMC currently supplies about 4,000 MLD of water against a demand of 4,505 MLD. According to the BMC's Environmental Status Report 2024-25, Mumbai's water requirement is projected to reach 6,535 MLD by 2041. To bridge the gap, the civic body plans to develop additional sources, which are expected to add 2,891 MLD to the supply. However, the project has faced delays for over a decade. Sitaram Shelar, convenor of the Pani Haqq Samiti, said the project was stalled earlier because the government had raised concerns about allocating additional water to Mumbai at the expense of neighbouring regions in the MMR. "Such big-ticket projects are a waste and are now being pushed simply because we have excess funds to spend. Projects like this create an island of prosperity for island cities like Mumbai, surrounded by the water-scarce MMR," said Shelar....