Desilt SGNP lakes to augment water supply for Mumbaikars, says Piyush Goyal

Mumbai, Aug 23 (IANS) Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday called for desilting the two fresh water lakes inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to augment the drinking water supply for the people of Mumbai.Visiting the lush green SGNP this morning along with forest officials, Goyal, 60, who is also the local Mumbai North MP, held discussions on a series of measures with the park authorities.“The problem of drinking water has been plaguing Mumbai for many years. There are the Tulsi Lake and Vihar Lakes inside the SGNP which satisfy substantial drinking water requirements of the city. We need to augment their carrying capacity,” said Minister Goyal while talking to mediapersons.He directed the Forest Department and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials to sit together and jointly analyse how this can be done, to take up desilting the two lakes to increase their storing capacity and thus solve the water woes of Mumbaikars on a long-term basis.Additionally, the Union Minister said that a large amount of rainwater flows out of the SGNP — spread across 106 sq km in north Mumbai and parts of Thane — which goes waste as it goes into the rivers or the sea.For this, he suggested the need to create ‘amrut sarovars’ inside the park which can capture and retain the excess water going out for various needs, including the two million plus tourists who visit SGNP annually.Goyal also discussed ways and means for the development of SGNP with more tourist-oriented projects and attractions, even as the region will soon see two deep tunnels for the upcoming mega-road infrastructure projects linking the eastern-western suburbs of Mumbai.Among these are to restart the popular ‘Van Rani’ (Jungle Queen) toy train, and other big draws are the Lion Safari and Tiger Safari, around four dozen leopards roaming inside the SGNP, varieties of deers, plus other wild animals, birds, insects, reptiles, and species of plants and vegetation, the 2000-year-old Kanheri Caves, the source of Mumbai’s sole Mithi River, and a sprinkling of tribal population dotting several hamlets there.Incidentally, SGNP — managed by the Union Ministry of Environment — is among a handful of wildlife parks in the world located right in the middle of a teeming metropolitan region housing a population of more than two crore people.–IANSqn/dpb