State cracks whip on industries drawing water illegally

The Orissa government has cracked the whip against the industrial units drawing water illegally from the smaller rivers and canals without prior approval.

The state government collected water tax and penalty to the tune of Rs 2.2 crore from such errant industrial units in 2009-10.

“It has come to the notice of the state government that some industrial units have been drawing water from the small rivers without approval. Penalty has been imposed on such units. However, the illegal drawal of water by these units has not affected agriculture and supply of drinking water”, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

It may be noted that out of 86 players who signed MoUs with the state government for setting up projects in different sectors, 45 industries have been granted permission for water allocation from various rivers.

A total of 1214.26 cusecs have been allocated to these 45 industries and together, these industries have drawn 126.49 cusecs, representing 11.2 per cent of the total allocated quantity.

Out of the total allocation of 1214.26 cusecs of water, 614.32 cusecs have been allocated to 26 steel units, followed by 453.81 cusecs to 13 independent power producers (IPPs), 138.87 cusecs in favour of four aluminium industries and the rest to cement and other industries.

The water drawal has been the least for the IPPs as only one (GMR Energy Ltd) has drawn small quantity of water out of the 13 IPPs. In case of steel projects, the drawal has been to the extent of 11.2 per cent. Among the steel units which have partially en-cashed their water permit are Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, Shyam DRI Power Ltd, Aarati Steel Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and Sree Metaliks Ltd to name a few.

On the contrary, there are other steel makers like Posco India, Essar Steel, Visa Steel Ltd and Bhushan Steel & Strips Ltd that are yet to draw water allocated to them.

Among the aluminium projects, only Vedanta Aluminium has drawn water to the extent of 100 per cent (54.9 cusecs).