The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Minjur desalination plant likely to get delayed

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Minjur desalination plant likely to get delayed

K.Lakshmi

Dredging work has been put on hold till the end of northeast monsoon

The pipeline laying work from Minjur to Madhavaram pumping station completed
The work to lay 10-km pipeline from Madhavaram to Red Hills is pending on a few stretches

— File Photo

TAKING MORE TIME: Work on the pipelines that will bring seawater to the desalination plant at Kattupalli near Minjur will take some more weeks.

CHENNAI: The commissioning of the 100-million-litre-a-day capacity desalination plant at Kattupalli near Minjur is likely to get delayed by at least two months.

According to Chennai Metrowater officials, the commissioning of the plant, which was due this month, is likely to be postponed as few works are yet to be completed. Nearly 85 per cent of the work has been completed.

Dredging to facilitate laying of pipelines to draw seawater from a depth of 10 metres below sea level and to discharge waste water is yet to be completed. As calm sea condition is one of the major requirements for dredging, the work has been put on hold till the end of the northeast monsoon, an official said. The remaining work is expected to be completed in a few days.

Meanwhile, sources from IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects Limited that is involved in the construction of the plant said that most of the civil works has been completed. However, an extension of up to three months has been sought for the trial operation and commissioning of the plant.

Chennai Water Desalination Limited, a special-purpose vehicle formed by IVRCL and its technical partner Befesa Construccion y Tecnologia Ambiental, Spain, undertook the project on the DBOOT (design, build, own, operate and transfer) basis in 2007. Metrowater has signed an agreement with the Chennai Water Desalination Limited for bulk purchase of water for 25 years.

About 95 per cent of the pipeline laying work taken up by the Metrowater to transport the treated water from Minjur to Red Hills has been completed. Metrowater officials said that of the work undertaken in two packages, the pipeline laying work covering a distance of 23.5 km from Minjur to the Madhavaram pumping station has been completed.

The work to lay 10-km pipeline between Madhavaram and Red Hills is pending on a few stretches due to issues related to land acquisition enroute.

However, the work taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is expected to be finished in a month.

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