The civic corporation’s quest for potable water by recycling Mumbai’s sewage has got longer, with the BMC struggling to find a consultant for the ambitious project. The corporation last month had invited bids to appoint a consultant with November 11 as the deadline for the submission of bids, but it got no response. It has now extended the date to December 17. 

The BMC recently finalised a group of contractors to recycle the city’s wastewater under a Rs 26,000-crore initiative. While the initial plan was to release the treated water into natural water bodies, civic officials have started exploring the possibility of making the treated water potable. “We are still awaiting bids. It will take some time,” said Vasant Gaikwad, chief engineer of BMC’s water supply project. Since this is a big project, another civic official said, “There are lots of queries from consultants. We need to first solve them.”