Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), the water and sewer utility serving India's western state of Maharashtra, has won a 2006 BE Award in the "Geospatial: Public Works" category for its use of Bentley software to help develop a disaster mitigation plan. The software saved MJP approximately one year in design cycle time and about $2 million in costs.

The BE Awards of Excellence, which are judged by an independent panel of industry experts and presented during the annual BE Conference, honour the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world's infrastructure.

After monsoon rains and massive flooding in July 2005 caused severe water supply disruptions in portions of Mumbai, MJP was asked to study the feasibility of interconnecting all 14 water networks. Through an integrated water network, MJP could provide alternative water supplies to any area impacted by storm damage to one or more water works.

MJP used Bentley's WaterCAD, Darwin Calibrator, Darwin Designer, and SewerCAD products to model the region's water networks and help it consider its connection options.

Sanjay Dahasahasra, chief engineer for MJP said, "Bentley's user-friendly water distribution modelling software allowed us to analyze various combinations of water grids easily and with a high degree of accuracy. Moreover, WaterCAD helped us understand likely risks in the water supply system, and presented us with remedial measures to make sure the region's 17 million residents always have an adequate supply of potable water."