Bokaro | Jan 05, 2017: After experiencing a month-long water crisis at the Bokaro Steel Plant, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has decided to adopt measures related to water conservation. On Thursday, the steel making company announced to observe January as Water Conservation Month in all its steel units and mines.

To avoid occurrence of the crisis, which occurred due to leakage in Tenughat water canal and hit production at the plant, SAIL decided to sensitise its employees and residents in the surrounding areas on the need to save water. Each department under SAIL has been directed to reduce water consumption in comparison to last year. To make the initiative a success, the management has decided to hold workshops and interaction sessions with its employees.

SAIL chairman P K Singh directed all unit heads to observe Water Conservation Month. BSL spokesperson Manikant Dhan said, "By observing Water Conservation Month, we are are going to create awareness among the employees by holding workshops in each of the departments. On Friday, we are going to organise 'waterthon' where employees will participate in a marathon and spread the message to all those working in the plant."

Dhan added that the management has also planned to organize awareness sessions among the wives of employees. Besides, they are also going to organise awareness programmes in schools to sensitize students on the need to save water.

The steel making process is water intensive. The 4.5 million tone capacity BSL steel plant received water from the Tenughat Dam. BSL receives 17,500 meter cube water per hour.

Bokaro is marked as a water scarcity zone by a team from IIT, Mumbai, who had conducted a water footprint assessment of all the five plants of SAIL in 2013-14. Apart from meeting the water requirements of a population of more than 5 lakh, BSL also has to ensure water supply for its steel production, a SAIL official said.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)