Mangaluru: The city is reeling under severe water shortage in the entire month of May, the scarcity threatened the fuel (Petroleum) security of the state and the fertiliser security for the upcoming Khariff crop. This is because the Mangalore City Corporation may have to stop the water supply to the industries if things threaten water security for domestic purposes.
But it appears the administrators and the captains of the industry on the coastal city have arrived on a solution which might take them off their dependence on the river water and move towards de-salinised water.
The technocrats, industrial heads and chemical engineers have arrived at a scenario where the District will be able to put up a de-salinisation plant near Mangaluru that can give ‘potable’ water from the sea and also a plant to recycle the wastewater from the city. If all goes as planned the plant with an installed capacity of 36 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) within 8 months to a year, all at a cost of Rs. 100 Crore.
The industries will never again depend on the river water and save that much of sweet water for domestic and agricultural purposes. Engineers of the Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers point out that the MCF has been using this technology for the last 40 years and the company has achieved ‘zero liquid discharge’ status which was the most desirable thing in environmental protection, despite using the water resources efficiently for industrial purposes.
The big industries like MRPL, MCF, and the downstream petroleum companies in the Special Economic Zone would use the desalinated and recycled water to the extent of 3 million gallons per day for industrial purposes, This water will be available for the domestic and agricultural users, who need huge volumes of sweet water that have to be taken from the river from the augmented water sources, which is a drain on the water supply to the drinking water system and irrigation. According to Government norms, in the case of severe water scarcity, the Government will prioritise the water supply, with the domestic circuit being the top priority, followed by agriculture, and industry. According to Mangalore City Corporation officials, presently there is only enough water for 20 days in the Thumbay reservoir and for five days at the AMR dam at Shamboor.
The industry honchos agree that prioritising water is the general norm everywhere, but even one day’s closure of industrial production can be huge losses for the company in particular and the country in general.