The incidents occurred in Singur, Nandigram have forced Arcelor-Mittal chief Laxmi Mittal to make a plan in advance to keep the problems away faced by other steel makers in setting industrial units in India. On Friday, Mittal announced that the firm would make own water arrangements for the proposed mega steel unit in Orissa.

The mega steel firm also announced that the management would also provide water facility to the farmers living in the region. The farmers in Orissa are currently heatedly opposing the use of water from Hirakud dam by new and proposed industries.

Malay Mukherjee, the group management board member of Arcelor-Mittal, said that the company has decided to prepare a long-term planning to fulfill the water needs of the proposed 12-million tonne per annum unit in Keonjhar district.

He said:

Meeting water requirements in this region is a challenge. The firm is at present consulting the international experts to meet the challenges ahead.

Earlier, Malay Mukherjee had led the delegation to discuss with state government officials on the development of the proposed Rs 40,000-crore steel plant. He also told the government officials that the water harvesting was one of the key options before the company.

He also said that Orissa was getting enough annual rainfall but it lacked facilities to conserve water. The Mittal unit would establish facilities to help water conservation and it would supply water to farmers during the lean period if possible.

However, Mukherjee accepted that the proposed mega steel unit might not be able to meet all the water needs from self established facilities but it would try its best to reduce water use by going for recycling.

He further said:

The unit would try to use the minimum possible quantity of water by using the advanced technology in steel manufacturing. The company is discussing with equipment manufacturers for this purpose. Research on recycling water is also in progress to avoid this problem.

The Arcelor-Mittal delegation led by Mukherjee was reportedly deliberate over quick land acquisition and raw material linkage while discussing the matter with the government team that was led by chief secretary Ajit Tripathy. The Mittal Steel delegation has also assured that they would give the best possible rehabilitation and resettlement package for the people who will be affected by the steel unit.