Odisha dam poses water supply threat to NMDC plant in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh govt flags concerns to Centre, as the proposed dam will lower water level in Sabri river; the state will not be able to meet the commitment of assured supply to NMDC plant

The proposed middle Kolab project in Odisha’s Koraput district is likely to severely affect water supply to the upcoming steel plant of the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district.

NMDC, as part of its diversification, value addition and forward integration programme is setting up a 3-million-tonne-per-annum (MTPA) greenfield integrated steel plant in Nagarnar of Bastar district. The site is on the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.

The Chhattisgarh government had inked an agreement with the NMDC to ensure water supply to the plant. The department had planned to provide water to the Nagarnar plant from Indrawati and Sabri rivers.

However, a proposed irrigation project across Kolab River, which originates from the western slopes of the Eastern Ghats in Odisha’s Koraput district and flows into Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region as Sabri River, had put the state authorities in a fix. For, it would reduce the quantity of water in Sabri.

The Chhattisgarh government has registered its concern to the Centre in the first regional conference of eastern states on water resources held in Kolkata on April 16, to address the outstanding water issues of these states. Representatives from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal attended the conference chaired by Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal.

“We have invited the attention of Centre on the issue of our reservations to provide water to the NMDC’s Nagarnar plant if Odisha goes ahead with the middle Kolab project,” Chhattisgarh’s water resources minister Brijmohan Agrawal said. Once the project is conceived, it would reduce the water level in Sabri and the department would not be in a position to provide sanctioned quantity of water to NMDC plant that is moving closer to commissioning.

The company has set September 2018 as the deadline to commission the plant.