Desalination plant in city will help meet increasing water demand: R Roshan Baig

MANGALURU: The department of urban development is mulling over setting up a pilot desalination plant with private participation. Planning to follow Chennai’s idea of tapping into desalinated water to meet its water needs for domestic and commercial purposes.
A foreign company that has evinced interest to set up one such plant will visit the city within the next fortnight, said R Roshan Baig, minister for urban development, here on Saturday.
Reviewing the functioning and progress of Mangaluru City Corporation, the minister who during his last meeting had directed the corporators and officials to visit the desalination plants that are operating in Chennai, said, “I am seriously committed to this project. Seeing (the desalination plants in Chennai) is believing. The whole plant requires less amount of space and can easily augment city’s drinking water needs even for the future in a major way.”
Pointing that a special purpose vehicle had been created to execute the project in Chennai, Baig said the water board there collects tariffs paid by the users and remits it to the SPV that is providing parts of the city with water. “The company has given a full-fledged presentation to the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board in my presence in Bengaluru recently and my officials in the board and the urban development department are convinced about it,” he said.
Directing the civic body commissioner Mohammad Nazeer to arrange visit of the corporators to the desalination plant in Chennai, Baig said, “I want your feedback and first hand impression of the idea before implementing it.” If successful, one can also think of taking this water to the weirs coming up as part of Yettinahole Project near Sakleshpur and provide the same to the state capital and other parched districts that are facing a serious shortage of potable water, he added.