india

Updated: Jun 28, 2019 00:14 IST

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday inaugurated a project for expanding the capacity of the Nemmeli desalination plant, as the state government seeks to ease Chennai’s chronic water shortage by increasing the supply of seawater converted into potable water.

Nemmeli is located about 48 kilometres to the south of the Tamil Nadu capital and the second phase, to be implemented at a cost of ~1,689 crore; would be ready by 2021. Once completed, the project would increase water supply to the city by desalinating 150 million litres per day (MLD) of seawater. “When the Nemmeli desalination plant’s phase two works are completed, 150 million litres of seawater can be converted as the drinking water. We expect the project will be completed in 2021 and will sort out Chennai’s water crunch,” Palaniswami told the media.

Tamil Nadu is experiencing a severe water crisis this year, partly a result of a delayed monsoon and partly because of the depletion of groundwater, prompting the state government to first order 33,000 temples, owned by the Hindu religious and charitable endowments to conduct special rituals to appease the rain gods, and then propose cloud-seeding to bring artificial rain to the parched state.