Navi Mumbai which was developed as a satellite city to Mumbai has grown huge and how. Although while developing the city the intent was to decongest Mumbai, today it has become one of the populous and sought after cities in Maharashtra. With basic infrastructure being promptly worked on, newer areas opening in the city and Third Mumbai in the making, there are increased people’s interests to settle in this part of the city. One simple need that will be impacted is access to water.
Water woes in Navi Mumbai in 2025
The summer of 2025 was hard on Navi Mumbai with the city facing numerous water cuts extending to even for 24 hours. This was attributed to reasons such as water shortage and mostly because of recurring leakages. This absence of water supply led to mayhem initially when people were unprepared and later to disappointment with water cuts not being a very frequent activity in the city except for times.
“We used to have water cuts in our housing society only during the water tank cleaning activity, which is a bi-annual activity that is planned and informed well in advance. However, with reasons such as leakages in the source supplying water to our housing society, we could do nothing but bear the long hours of no water and rely on water tankers two times a week,” said, Swati, a resident of sector 2, Kharghar. Most societies in the city – new and old depended on water tankers to get uninterrupted supply of water till the water supply situation in the city was back to normal.
Why are water infrastructure projects important in Navi Mumbai?
Navi Mumbai is undergoing rapid infrastructure expansion with the presence of the Navi Mumbai International Airport that will soon start operations, the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), the Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, the Navi Mumbai Metro and the proposed Kharghar International Corporate Park etc. In addition to many residential pockets, across the various nodes of Navi Mumbai, Cidco with its Mass Housing Scheme is also offering over 67,000 homes in the city through the various lotteries the authority conducts in equal intervals.
With more and more residential projects being developed, newer nodes opening up like Ulwe, Pushpak Nagar, Taloja etc., demand for drinking water will only increase going further and it was imperative for the town planning authority to have a water strategy roadmap in place.
Cidco 2050 water vision: 1,275 million litres per day
To facilitate easy access to water, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) has worked on a comprehensive water supply strategy that will fulfil the expected water demand of around 1,275 million litres per day (MLD) in Navi Mumbai by 2050. In this guide, we detail all about the Cidco strategy to comfortably meet water demands in the city by 2050.
What is the present source of water for Navi Mumbai?
Currently, Navi Mumbai depends on the Morbe Dam for all its water requirements. The Morbe Dam provides drinking water to Navi Mumbai and the Nhava Sheva regions. The gravity dam is located near Khalapur, Raigad District. Owned by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), the dam is built on the Dhavari River.
Morbe pipeline connection work: NMMC to cut water supply on July 18, 19
The NMMC will cut water supply in most areas of Navi Mumbai on July 18 and 19, 2025 because of essential repair and connection work that will be done on the Morbe main water pipeline. No water will be available from Friday evening to Saturday evening. In the evening also, after restoration of water, the pressure may be low.
The work that will include connecting a newly laid pipeline to the existing one starts 10 AM, July 18 and will be completed by to 4 AM July 19, 2025.
The areas that will be affected because of this water supply cut include Belapur, Nerul, Vashi, Turbhe, Sanpada, Koparkhairane, Ghansoli and Airoli that fall under the NMMC jurisdiction. Kharghar and Kamothe that are under Cidco will also affected. Also, areas having direct tap connections to the main pipeline will be impacted.
Cidco water strategy for 2050
Mentioned below are the steps that are part of Cidco’s strategy to fulfil water demands by 2050.
- Hetawane Water Supply Scheme
The Hetawane Dam is located in Pen and is an earthfill dam. As part of the plan, Cidco will focus on the augmentation of the Hetawane Water Supply Scheme that will be developed in four phases and is expected to be completed by June 2029.
According to Cidco, the following is the status of the Hetawane plant.
- Water treatment plant: 41% complete
- Raw water tunnel: 8.5% complete
- Pure water tunnel: 25.7% complete
To address the ever growing water demand, the Maharashtra government in August 2020 sanctioned an additional 120 MLD of water from the Hetawane Dam, thus increasing the total capacity to 270 MLD. The government invested around Rs 119.8 crore for this change and has appointed experts to redesign the existing supply to make space for the increased allotted capacity. This is expected to provide a steady supply of water to areas under the Panvel Municipal Corporation and Cidco.
- New water sources: Kondhane Dam and Balganga Dam
Cidco is also developing new sources of water that will add to the existing and new sources. These include the Kondhane Dam on Ulhas River and the Balganga dam projects that are both expected to be completed in the next five years. While initially, the Kondhane Dam will provide 250 MLD water, the dam can extend capacity till 350 MLD. The Kondhane Dam will provide water to the NAINA project.
- Leveraging existing sources
Cidco has also made a roadmap that will leverage the existing sources such as Hetawane Dam, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran’s (MJP) Nhava Sheva Stage-III Water Supply Scheme, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
“With the establishment of a strong water supply network, we’re not just meeting today’s demands, we’re building resilient water infrastructure for tomorrow,” said Vijay Singhal, MD, Cidco to the media, mentioned reports.
Water related challenges that continue to exist for Cidco
Although the roadmap is working on sustainable water infrastructure, some of the challenges that still has to be faced by Cidco include:
- More population that expected that may challenge the water infrastructure
- Risks related to over dependence on monsoons.
- Constant upgrades to pipelines and infrastructure to avoid leakage of water.
How can housing societies in Navi Mumbai conserve water?
- Smart water metres
By installing smart water metres in societies that will show the water usage directly. Billing is done based on actual consumption of water. These are also helpful in detecting water leaks early.
- Rainwater harvesting
This is compulsory for all new and under-construction projects to support rain water harvesting. Older buildings in the satellite city can also explore this and implement it in their societies.
- Grey water usage
Using the greywater for flushing in your washrooms and landscaping will help conserve precious drinking water.
Housing.com POV
With Navi Mumbai seeing broad development, sustainable living is the direction in which the authorities should further plan the city for it to support the people coming and settling here. A combination of Cidco’s water strategy 2050 and best practices when it comes to conserving water will help the city grow multi-folds and become a mega city in times to come.
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