MUMBAI, June 4 -- Construction of the proposed Gargai dam, a key water supply project aimed at augmenting Mumbai's future water needs, is expected to begin in October 2026, with the reservoir likely to be filled by May 2029. The announcement was made by Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects) at the standing committee on Wednesday. The project includes a 69-metre-high dam near Ogada village and a 2.2-km tunnel that will channel water to the Modak Sagar reservoir. The BMC has targeted completion of the project by May 2029 and had proposed a budgetary provision of Rs.437.51 crore for the Gargai project in its 2026-27 Budget Estimates. Bangar said the dam will use roller compacted concrete (RCC) technology, a method that allows faster construction as the concrete does not require conventional curing. "The dam has RCC-type concrete and we need to place around 450mm concrete layers," he said. However, the project remains dependent on securing critical environmental clearances. "The most important approval is the forest diversion permission," Bangar said, adding that two permissions from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), along with approval from the National Board for Wildlife, are still pending. According to officials, the delay in obtaining MoEFCC clearance stemmed from the lack of sufficient land for compensatory afforestation, a shortfall that has now been addressed. The project has significant environmental and social implications, with two villages directly affected by submergence and four additional villages earmarked for relocation and rehabilitation....