By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 17, 2018: Chennai based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Paradip Port Trust (PPT) to set up the first ever 10 million litre per day (MLD) de-salination plant at Paradip to make sea water potable .

The plant will be set up to address the industrial and drinking water needs of the town. The de-salination plant, which will be set up at a cost of around Rs 116 crore, will address the water scarcity especially during summer.

Water scarcity has become acute in the thickly-populated Paradip town. PPT caters to the water needs of not only 1,800 of its own employees but also 85,000 people residing in and around the town.

There are three reservoirs in Paradip port which have the capacity to store three million gallon of water. But the demand for water in the township and the slums has gone up to five million gallons per day.

The water treatment plant of 6 million gallon per day capacity is no longer functional owing to inadequate supply of water from Mahanadi River through Taladanda canal.

The MoU was signed between Chief Engineer, PPT K Ramachandra Rao on behalf of PPT and Project Director, NIOT MV Ramana Murthy.