The Maharashtra cabinet approved four dam projects with a total cost of Rs 188.42 billion, including two in Raigad district aimed at providing drinking water to areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), such as Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, and Badlapur.

One of the projects involves the construction of a 12.344 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) capacity dam on the Poshir River in Karjat at an estimated cost of Rs 63.94 billion. The live water storage capacity of this dam will be 9.721 TMC, of which 7.933 TMC is designated for drinking water supply and 1.859 TMC for industrial use. The water will be distributed to MMR regions including Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, and Badlapur for drinking purposes.

Another proposed project includes the construction of a 6.61 TMC capacity dam on the Shilar River in Karjat. This dam is expected to provide drinking water to the municipal corporations of Panvel and Navi Mumbai.

The cabinet also granted revised administrative approval of R 53.29 billion for the Sulwade Jamphal Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme in Shindkheda taluka of Dhule district. This project is intended to irrigate 36,407 hectares of agricultural land in the Shindkheda and Dhule tehsils. As of March, Rs 24.07 billion had already been spent on the project.

Additionally, revised administrative approval of Rs 22.50 billion was given for an irrigation scheme under the Aruna project in Sindhudurg district. This initiative aims to bring 5,310 hectare under irrigation, covering 4,475 hectare in Vaibhav Wadi tehsil and 835 hectare in Rajapur tehsil of Ratnagiri district.

News source: Hindustan Times