Visakhapatnam: RINL ready to tide over hot days

Visakhapatnam: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, is bracing up for the hot days ahead.

After commissioning its second reservoir -- Kaniti Balancing Reservoir (KBR) – 2 at Kurmannapalem at a cost of Rs.450 crore, the public sector undertaking is capable-enough to meet its water needs even if its production exceeds the expected levels this year.

With a buffer storage of 95 days in place, the management says that the plant has adequate quantity of water in store to cater to its needs even to meet its enhanced levels of production.

The plant's production capacity of liquid steel is 7.3 metric tonnes per annum at present. On a daily basis, approximately 40-50 million gallons (MGD) of water is required by the plant for its needs. "On an average, Rs.10 crore is being spent by the plant management for the water supply from Yeleru canal on a monthly basis. With a capacity of 0.5 TMC each, the plant is equipped with sufficient water both at KBR-1 and KBR-2," says A. Banerjee, general manager of Water Management Department, RINL.

The main sources of water supply to the plant are KBR-1 and KBR-2 from where water is pumped through Yeleru canal by VIWSCO (Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Company).

Earlier, the plant was dependent on KBR-1 alone as its water source. If the supply gets affected due to insufficient rainfall or because of any maintenance work carried out at the canal, the water level used to hit dead storage at the reservoir. In such a scenario, plant management used to find it challenging to meet the production requirement, particularly during summer.

But it's different scenario now. Even if the supply from Yeleru canal is interrupted due to any maintenance work, it barely leaves any impact on the plant. Approximately, the canal maintenance work might stretch from five days to two weeks. But, with its existing buffer storage that goes up to 95 days, officials say that they don't have to worry about shortage of water at all.

Once the KBR-1 is filled, the excess water will be channelised into KBR-2. The management says that the PSU aims at achieving water security and ensuring smooth functioning of the plant sans any interruption.

On the proposal making rounds on setting up of desalination plant, Steel Plant officials termed the project as unviable as a cubic metre of desalinated water would cost a whopping Rs.90 against Rs.12 for the regular water that the plant is currently sourcing.