BHUBANESWAR: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty today said that only 2 per cent of water from the Hirakud reservoir is being provided for industrial use.
To a question from Prafulla Majhi (Cong), the Minister reiterated that the State Government attaches top priority to drinking water supply followed by its use in environment protection. Then it is used for agriculture and generation of hydro electric power, he said, adding its use for industrial purposes comes last in the priority list.
The State Government has permitted 13 industrial houses to draw water from the Hirakud reservoir for industrial purposes. These industries draw 0.314 million acre feet water annually at the rate of 433.322 cubic feet for second (cusec) which is within the limit of 0.350 million acre feet fixed by the State Government, he said.
The live storage capacity of Hirakud reservoir is 3.91 million acre feet while water earmarked for industrial purposes is only 8.95 per cent. Now, industries are using 0.077 million acre feet water from the reservoir which is only 2 per cent, he said.
The Minister said Rs 3.41 crore water tax had been collected from industrial houses in 2008-09. During the last five years water tax of Rs 7.73 crore was collected, he said.