Drinking water from desalination plant in Jan 2009: Stalin

Chennai, Sep 23 (UNI) Drinking water from the desalination plant, being built at Minjur in north Chennai, would be a Pongal gift to the people here in January next.

Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister M K Stalin, after visiting the site of the 100 Million Litre capacity per day plant at Kattupalli, near Minjur, announced that people of Chennai would get drinking water from the plant from January 15 next on the occasion of Pongal Festival.

Mr Stalin, who had been periodically visiting the site since the project was taken up last year, said 80 per cent of the work had been completed and the entire work would finished before the middle of January.

The people of the metropolis would start getting drinking water from the plant from January 15, he said adding works, including seawater intake tower, filters and reverse osmosis buildings, had been completed.

The multi-crore project was being implemented by IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects Limited.

In association with its technical partner Befesa of Spain, it was developing the plant on a Design, Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.

The Chennai Metrowater has signed a water purchase agreement with the company for procuring water over 25 years at a cost of Rs 48.66 per kilo litre.

The project was being implemented with a Rs 93 crore funding under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

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