Port trust moots desalination plant

KOCHI: The Cochin Port Trust(CPT)is planning to set up a desalination plant at Willingdon Island inorder to achieve self-reliance in meeting its water needs for commercial and domestic purposes for the present and future. The Port Trust has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for setting up a plant for supplying water for 15 years.At present, the Port is getting 2,000 Kilo Litre(KL) of water from Kerala Water Authority. The water received from the KWA is distributed to residents, commercial units as well as for ships calling at the Cochin Port. “The supply from KWA is insufficient to meet the demand. This prompted us to think of setting up a desalination plant,” the Port authorities said. “The KWA has promised to supply 32,000 tonnes of water under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). But the project is expected to be completed only by March 2013. We are already facing a shortfall of around 500 KL of water per day. The requirement for ships calling at the port is around 400 KL per day. The requirement for commercial units is around 150 KL per day,” they added.“It is expected that the demand for ships and commercial purpose will touch 2,500 KL and 4,000 KL, respectively, in next five years. We expect to draw 500 KL of water per day at a rate of Rs. 25 per KL, from the firm which construct the plant,” Port authorities said. The firm needs to contribute a share of the revenue generated from the plant to the Port management. It will be provided with land for establishing the plant and overhead tanks at notified lease rates and free pipeline laying permission. The firm is expected to procure and install equipment and pipelines with acceptable calibrated metering and supply the full requirement of water at its own cost.