In last hearing, the court had asked the state irrigation department to file an affidavit stating how many million litres of water would be provided daily to 270 villages of Panvel that are facing water shortage.(Representational image)

Mumbai: The state government has informed the Bombay high court that the collector of Raigad will conduct meetings with officers and call for a feasibility report of existing water in the Hetawane dam. Accordingly, the state government will decide as to how much water should be released from the dam to villages that are facing acute water shortage.

A division bench of Justice A.K. Menon and Justice Bharti Dangre was hearing a PIL filed by activist Vishnu Gavali pertaining to acute water shortage faced by 29 villages that are a part of the Panvel Municipal Corporation, 71 villages that are part of the Panvel Panchayat Samiti and 270 villages that have been affected due to the Cidco and NAINA (Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area) project.

In last hearing, the court had asked the state irrigation department to file an affidavit stating how many million litres of water would be provided daily to 270 villages of Panvel that are facing water shortage. Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is ready to supply 50 water tankers and Cidco is also ready to give some of the water from its quota.

On Friday, additional public prosecutor Sandip Babar informed the court that the collector would now convene a meeting  of the committee members before the next date to consider the feasibility of releasing additional water.