AP Govt To Set Up Desalination Plants In Coastal Districts

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh government plans to set up desalination plants along coastal districts in collaboration with Israeli company IDE Technologies to overcome the drinking water shortage in the state.

After having discussions with IDE Technoligies Deputy CEO Lizi Torenstine and other officials, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said efforts to set up desalination plants was to see that not a single drop of water goes waste. He recalled that Israel was totally dependent on water through desalination.

The Chief Minister outlined the need for utilizing only desalinated water for industrial purpose and there should be provision to upgrade the plant for drinking water as well.

He asked the Israeli company officials to make a study of where the desalination plants could be set up, starting with Visakhapatnam and later covering the other coastal areas.

The Chief Minister said that Vizag Steel Plant should be using desalinated water and an action plan should be prepared to ensure that all thermal plants use desalinated water. He emphasized the need to estimate the cost and technology that is in vogue in the purification of polluted water.

Meanwhile, the Israeli company officials were all praise for the Chief Minister for making efforts to solve drinking water shortage in the state and said Israel started a commercial desalination pant in 1964 and that the services of IDE Technologies were being utilized by 40 countries across the world.

It has been working in India for the past 25 years and providing services to corporates like Essar and Reliance.