Khader revives desalination plant for Mangaluru proposal

Team Udayavani, Jul 9, 2018, 11:36 AM IST

Mangaluru: Urban Development Minister U.T. Khader revived the proposal for setting up a desalination plant in the city and asked the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWS&DB) to prepare a feasibility report on it.

He directed the board to consult major industries in the city such as MRPL, MCF Ltd. and MSEZ Ltd. on their water requirement before preparing the report. The industries too have been asked to submit their requirements to the board.

Mr. Khader explained that the proposal would be taken forward only if the project was found to be viable. Clarity was required on whether it would be possible to supply water to industries and whether drinking water could be supplied to people at a nominal rate, he said.

the board would study whether it was feasible to set up a 50 MLD capacity plant in the city under public-private partnership. the details on the funds required, land required to set up the plant and its availability, how to maintain it, the production and supply cost of water should be submitted by the board, said the minister.

The proposal was formed in 2016, when the city faced acute water shortage in summer forcing major industries to shut down operations for some days.  A decision to form a special purpose vehicle (which is a company) to take the proposal forward, was taken by the then Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim.