India's financial capital, Mumbai, will build a new treatment facility at a cost of 41.2 billion rupees (about $500 million) as it grapples with a solution to chronic water shortages.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the city's governing body, has awarded a contract to Welspun Enterprises to build and operate a water treatment plant capable of treating 2 billion liters daily. Welspun said in a statement that the project is expected to be completed within four years and that the company will operate and maintain it for the next 15 years.
According to the company, the water treatment plant will be one of the largest in the world in terms of treatment capacity. The facility will be set up within the city authority's Bhandup complex, which supplies drinking water to the city through several existing treatment plants. Welspun announced that it has partnered with Paris-based environmental services giant Veolia as the technology provider for its new factory. Welspun was the most profitable company in the year since its announcement.
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Most of India's major cities face water shortages and rely on reduced supplies, especially during the summer months. Earlier this year, the city of Mumbai announced a 15% cut in water supply until March 5 after one of its pumping stations was damaged by fire. According to reports, the city suffered from severe water shortage last year due to declining water levels in reservoirs.
An unprecedented heat wave could worsen the shortage. With the mercury reaching 50 degrees in Indian summers, scientists estimate that climate change will make India 30 times more likely to experience extreme heat waves, making the country the first place in the world to experience a heatwave. It is said that there is a high possibility that this will become one of the areas where the possibility of survival is threatened. threshold.
© 2024 Bloomberg
