ROURKELA: Having faced an unprecedented drinking water crisis in its captive township during the summer last year after Koel river dried up, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has finally worked out a permanent solution to address the issue with the completion of a water supply project linked to Brahmani river.
Under the project, RSP has augmented its water distribution infrastructure at a total cost of about Rs.8 crore.
Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh (RIKKS) general secretary HS Bal said the Hilltop Water Purification Plant (HWPP) at Sector-20 is originally designed to draw water from Koel and cater to 70 per cent needs of Rourkela Industrial Township (RIT) limits.
The Brahmani Water Works (BWW) at Sector-8 is used to receive water from Tarkera Pump House (TPH) and cater to the rest 30 per cent demand of RIT areas. The TPH, which draws water from Brahmani, has assured water supply from RSP’s Mandira Dam at Laing. He said when Koel had dried up last year, there was a water crisis due to lack of connectivity between the HWPP and BWW to source water from Brahmani.
RSP sources said under the infrastructure augmentation project, the BWW and HWPP have been connected with a 5.7-km long and 800 mm diameter pipeline. Moreover, two additional 6.6 million gallons per day (MGD) capacity pumps have been installed at the TPH while the new booster pump house at BWW has been enabled to supply water to HWPP.