Mumbai: With some of the infrastructure at the Pise water pumping station nearly five decades old, BMC is building a backup facility at the site with the capacity to supply 455 million litres per day (MLD).The project, which includes construction of a new pickup weir with gates on the Bhatsa river, is around 60% complete. The new pumping station will be operated when existing units require maintenance or face technical problems. The Pise pumping station is a critical link in Mumbai’s water supply network. It supplies around 2,120 MLD of water to the city. There are currently four pumping stations at the site—three with a capacity of 455 MLD each and one of 640 MLD. BMC has also taken up construction of a new weir at Pise. The existing reinforced cement concrete weir was built in 1979 and originally allowed water storage up to 31m town hall datum (when the building that houses Asiatic Society was the datum level marking the sea level for the city). Rubber balloons were installed over it in 2000, raising the storage level by around 2m. The civic body said the rubber balloons began showing operational and maintenance issues over the years. It, therefore, decided to replace the arrangement with a new weir equipped with steel gates and designed using earthquake-resistant technology. The new infrastructure is expected to improve control over water storage as well as pumping efficiency, officials said. “The work order for the new weir and the 455 MLD pumping station, including installation and commissioning of machinery, was issued on Feb 18, 2025. Work began that March 4. The project has a 36-month completion period, including the monsoon,” said a civic official.
