Bhilai steel plant township faces water crisis as reservoir levels drop

Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the Chhattisgarh-based entity of state-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has plunged into an acute water crisis. This has forced the authorities to regulate supply to the township.

Every day, BSP’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) would supply water to the township twice every day. “However, owing to low reserves in the Maroda Reservoir-2, water will be supplied to the township only once a day during the morning hours, with effect from June 26,” an official said.

Water in Maroda reservoir, as things stand, would be enough to sustain supply for just a month, the official added.      

 

Bhilai gets water from Tandula, Gondli, Kharkhara, and Gangrel dams. The districts where the dam and reservoirs supplying water to BSP are located have recorded a rainfall deficit of over 70 per cent.

However, the water crisis has not hit operations at BSP yet.

In April as well, the BSP management had curtailed water supply owing to scarcity. However, it was restored after supply from Gangrel was replenished.  

On the other hand, the onset of monsoon was delayed over Chhattisgarh by 15 days. Normally, the south-west monsoon enters the state by the second week of June.

According to the weather office, 18 of the 33 districts in the state have recorded “large deficient” rainfall. Overall, the state has received 34.8 millimetre (mm) rainfall against the normal 80.6 mm, a deficit of 57 per cent.