KOCHI: The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) will now have to wait till the local bodies elections are over to take the next step towards setting up the proposed desalination plant at Chellanam.

The elections have posted the latest hurdle before this project, which the GCDA had been mooting as its tsunami-relief work. It has even marked out Rs.40 lakh towards this venture.

However, it could not proceed owing to objections raised by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). A delegation of GCDA officials had held a meeting with Minister for Water Resources Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and top KWA officials recently. It was decided at this meeting that KWA officials would hold next round of meeting at GCDA on September 7.

"Nothing has been heard from the KWA since. We still believe that there should not be any objection to desalination projects, as even the Union Government is sponsoring desalination plants, like the ones at Kumarakom," said Antony Isaac, Chairman, GCDA.

The KWA has opposed the GCDA proposal, saying that it was not viable. The GCDA had proposed to build the plant, based on the Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment process, at a cost of Rs.1.10 crore.

GCDA proposed to establish the unit on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis with financial assistance from State Government. Opposing the project, KWA officials said that production of drinking water through the desalination plant would incur huge costs and would be viable only if production is undertaken on a mass basis.

The Authority is now planning to hold another meeting with the Minister after the elections to chart out the next step. In the meantime, it has initiated studies to sort out finer details of establishing a desalination plant at Elakunnapuzha in Vypeen.

"At Elakunnapuzha, the GCDA's role will be that of a consultant. Already, we have a sponsor ready to take up the work. Again, we expect the KWA to raise objections even though the public and panchayat want it to be established," said Prof. Isaac.

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