Production in MCF and MRPL stopped: Click to know why

May 15: The supply of fertilisers and fuel to the state and the country is like to be affected this farming season. Both Mangalore Chemical and Fertilizers Limited (MCF) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) are the worst hit industries by the water crisis. They are both largely dependent on the water available in the Thumbe dam across River Nethravathi.
MCF Director Prabhakar Rao said that the factory had been closed down since February and had operated for some days in April as the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) has stopped water supply. The units will be made operational only once the water is stored in the required quantities. The plant can resume manufacturing chemicals only after the start of monsoons.
MRPL too, out of the three units, Phase 2 has been shut down for annual maintenance since April 15. The production capacity of the MRPL has been reduced to half, from the annual refinery capacity of 15 million tonne. The officials said that Phase 2 could run for not more than two weeks. There is also no other source of water, although the work on the desalination plant – which received the CRZ clearance from the MoEF recently – is in progress.
These companies had stopped drawing water from Nethravathi since April 23.