In the coming years, the increasing water demand from the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), and the broader Navi Mumbai region will be addressed as work on the Kondhane Dam in Raigad district is set to begin soon. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has issued a tender to appoint a contractor for the construction of the Kondhane Dam in Karjat Taluka, Raigad district.
The dam, expected to supply approximately 250 million liters of water per day (MLD), will be constructed at an estimated cost of around Rs 1,348 crores. Based on a per capita water requirement of 135 liters per day, the Kondhane Dam will benefit approximately 1.85 million people.
If everything goes according to plan, the dam will be ready to supply water to Navi Mumbai and the surrounding areas within the next five years.
Currently, Navi Mumbai's water supply comes from various sources, including the Hetawane Water Supply Scheme, MJP’s Patalganga Project, NMMC’s Morbe Dam Project, and MIDC’s Barvi Dam Project.
Given the rising population and increasing water demand, CIDCO and the NAINA area will require around 1,275 MLD of water per day by 2034.
The dam will be located on the Ulhas River in the Karjat Taluka of Raigad district. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Kondhane Dam Project was prepared by the Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC) in 2006-07. KIDC later revised the cost estimation based on tentative cross-sections and rate analysis. Initially, the construction of the Kondhane Dam project began in 2011 as an irrigation project. However, the project could not be completed due to various reasons. In 2017, the project was handed over to CIDCO.
According to officials, the dam will significantly aid water needs, as the 53.25 sq. km catchment area receives an average of 4,200 mm of rainfall, sufficient to fill the dam. The gross storage capacity will be 115.98 MCM, which can be utilized.