Weighing pros and cons of setting up desalination plant in Puducherry
The Hindu
Though there is a case for alternative mode, only 40% water could be purified for consumption through the plant, says PWD Minister K. Lakshminarayanan
The government was carefully considering the pros and cons of establishing a desalination plant to lessen the dependence on depleting groundwater reserves to serve the city’s ever expanding drinking water needs, PWD Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said on Thursday.
He was speaking at the launch of the ‘WaterFest ‘23-Stewardship for Water and Biodiversity’, a seven-week festival hosted “to celebrate humankind’s deep connection with water and instil a sense of its value as a life-sustaining resource”. The third edition of the festival that began on World Wetlands Day and will conclude on World Water Day (March 22) is organised by ‘All For Water For All’ (A4W4A), a collective of individuals and organisations campaigning for improved water management.
Mr. Lakshminarayanan said that while at least 10 firms had evinced interest in setting up a desalination plant, the government was considering the pros and cons of an investment in this technology. While there is a case to be made for tapping an alternative like desalination for augmenting water supply in Puducherry, which had for successive years bagged Jal Jeevan Mission awards for its strides in piped water coverage of urban and rural households, the government was also conscious of the low potable water to high waste water ratio, he said.
The flip side of desalination was that while only 40% could be purified for consumption, handling the waste water, even for reuse possibilities after treatment, was a challenging proposition, the Minister said.
Outlining various short term and long term measures being undertaken by the government, the Minister said alongside these efforts, the public too shared a responsibility in judiciously using water.
Carol Josse, French Deputy Consul General in Puducherry, said India and France have inked a roadmap to enhance their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and forge a common vision of ocean governance and cooperate on sustainable and resilient coastal and waterways infrastructure.
Stating that the countries were cooperating on a range of issues and on various fronts, Ms. Josse pointed to drinking water project for the population in Puducherry that was being implemented with AFD aid to the tune of 65 million Euros (about ₹550 crore) and technical assistance.