New desalination plant to provide fresh water to southern Chennai

CHENNAI: The state government of Tamil Nadu on June 27, laid the foundation stone of third seawater desalination plant worth Rs 1,259 crore in Kancheepuram district, south of Chennai. The foundation of third desalination plant was laid at the time when the city is suffering from huge water crisis, the water authority is struggling to supply ample amount of water to the residents and all four major lakes in the city which have dried up. The existing plants in the city are supplying about 180 million liters per day (MLD) drinking water, which caters the needs of citizens living in the northern part of the city.

Edappadi K Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, said that the third plant with a capacity of 150 MLD production would come up at Nemmeli in Kancheepuram and will be completed by the end of 2021. The project is expected to benefit at least nine lakh people in various parts of southern Chennai after it is commissioned.

An official statement by the government said that cost of Rs 700 crores for the new plant will be taken as a loan from German firm Kfw and the remaining cost will be used from the subsidy under centre’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

With the foundation of new desalination plant which was to be completed by end of 2021, citizens of southern Chennai regions can hope to get benefited from the plant. The main area which will be provided with fresh water after completion of project are Alandur and St Thomas Mount near the Chennai international airport, and Sholinganallur, a thickly populated residential neighbourhood on city’s industrial corridor, Old Mahabalipuram road, and the Rajiv Gandhi Salai.