Jayakwadi water keeps Jalna's steel industry running through the drought

Jalna: The industrial estate in Jalna town has a large number of steel companies, which need a lot of water for production. The estate gets water from the Jayakwadi dam through a dedicated pipeline. Although the district is in drought, Jayakwadi holds enough water, so supply to industries has not been cut and steel production has not been affected for now.

Jalna is known across the country for its steel and seed industries. The three-phase industrial estate has about 300 companies, large and small, including ten or eleven large steel plants. The large companies need two to two-and-a-half million litres a day (MLD), and the smaller ones together need one-and-a-half to two MLD.

The dedicated pipeline runs from Jayakwadi via Khodegaon and Shendra to the industrial estate, which has two large tanks and two sumps of 1.5 MLD and 3 MLD. From there MIDC has given companies connections of 15 mm to 80 mm. There are about 257 connections at present, with a monthly water bill of ₹30 lakh to ₹31 lakh, which MIDC's water supply department collects.

The estate needs about 4 MLD a day and is receiving it regularly, with no cut at present, said MIDC water supply engineer Ajay Kingre. A water cut would limit steel output, cause losses to companies and put workers' jobs at risk, so MIDC is taking care that supply to industries is not reduced.

Source: Esakal