Describing proposals for setting up desalination plants as capital intensive with annual, recurring costs and terming them unviable, former Deputy Mayor K. Dorababu has said tapping the Polavaram Left Main Canal water is the best alternative.
The Bachawat Tribunal has allocated 23.44 tmc feet of water to the Polavaram LMC which could be used to meet the industrial needs of the region and drinking water needs of the city.
Water can be drawn through the Polavaram canal during the 135 flood days by using one lift up to Tallapalem. He recalled that a detailed project report prepared in 2009-10 had identified balancing reservoirs for 14 tmc. Of them Meghadrigedda, Kondakarla ava and Achyutapuram tank are readily available to stock 7 tmc and for the remaining 1550 hectares of land acquisition is required.
Once the balancing reservoirs were ready, the lift need not be used. He alleged that notwithstanding objections the government was going ahead with the Pattiseema project on the RMC while not exploiting the LMC on which the development of North Andhra depended.
It would also send wrong signals to the industry that one had to depend upon desalination for water. This would damage the image of the city which is being promoted as an investment destination and the proposal to develop it into a Smart City.
The VSP proposed a desalination plant of 45 mgd for which Rs.450 crore of investment was needed. To meet the supply gap of 26 mgd, the GVMC has also proposed to set up a plant with a cost of Rs.350 crore, Mr. Dorababu said. He termed spending public money on desalination as wasteful expenditure.
Spending public money on desalination is wasteful, says Dorababu
