CSR News: India Inc’s Participation in Water Conservation

75 per cent of the surface of the earth is covered with water. In fact, the life on earth for the first time originated in water rather than land. However, 97 per cent of this water is in the oceans making it unfit for everyday use. Of the remaining three per cent, a huge chunk is locked in the glaciers. All in all, only 0.5 per cent of water is in a state which is usable by humans. This makes water a finite and precious resource.

Many countries of the world are facing a water crisis today. With overuse and exploitation of freshwater resources such as reservoirs, lakes and groundwater, the availability of fresh clean water has reduced drastically in some areas. During such difficult times, it is important to conserve every drop of water and use the resource judiciously.

World Water Day is observed on 22^nd March every year to celebrate water and raise awareness about 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. The day is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

World Water Day 2020

The theme of World Water Day 2020 is water and climate change – and how the two are inextricably linked. The campaign focuses on demonstrating how our use of water will help reduce floods, droughts, scarcity and pollution, and will help fight climate change itself.

India Inc.’s Participation in Water Conservation

According to the IBEF report, the realty sector in India is expected to contribute 13 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2025. However, the latest NITI Aayog report exhibits that six per cent of the GDP would be lost by 2050 because of the water crisis. This implies that it is the high time that realtors realise the need for efficient water management at the construction sites. Working towards addressing the crisis beforehand, Wienerberger India has innovated Porotherm Dryfix System which helps to radically reduce water usage during the construction phase of a building. This solution also enables the enhanced speed of construction resulting in faster delivery of building projects. The company has pledged to save water by offering smart and innovative solutions to reduce water consumption in construction sites.

Bosch India is offering dishwashers that use up to 85% less water than hand-washing. It requires only 9.5 litres of water, thereby saving up to 1200 litres of water per year as compared to handwashing.

AV Organics complies with 0% water wastage policy, with optimum utilization of water, thereby minimizing adverse environmental impacts. This water efficiency is achieved through underground storage tanks with a massive capacity of 150,000 litres, which is divided into 3 parts, namely Raw water, Reusable water and Reject water. A certain quantity of water is discarded in the purification process of Raw water. This discarded water is stored in the Reusable water tank and is used again as Raw Water. The discarded water in this stage is then stored in the Reject water tank. The water stored in the Reject water tank is then used for plantation and gardening within the factory premises.

Project Meetha Sona is DCM Shriram Sugar’s unique initiative for Sugarcane farmers based on the key principles of Suitability, Scalability and Sustainability. It works by catalysing behaviour change among 2 lakh farmers working across 1.65 lakh hectare of farmland in the catchment area of DCM Shriram’s four sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh. The project is a multi-stakeholder engagement running successfully in collaboration with IFC and Solidaridad and also includes multilateral agencies, developmental institutions and service providers, to address specific issues in the entire value chain. This significant community outreach program directly benefits the livelihood of sugarcane farmers who are trained on productivity enhancement and large-scale conservation of water resources. Farmers are provided free press mud for soil health improvement and 260 Apna Sewa Kendras have been set up to promote farm mechanization among smallholders. Good agricultural techniques such as trash mulching, laser levelling, furrow and drip irrigation have not only increased yields but led to a saving of 275 billion litres of water in the past three years. BioControl Labs have been set in two sugar unit – Rupapur & Ajbapur to assist farmers in controlling pest attacks while reducing their usage of chemical pesticides.

IdeaHive Media, an agency focusing on creating social impact projects, partnered with Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), as its knowledge partner, who has pioneered in watershed efforts, both directly and through partner NGOs, in 3,500 villages across 8 states of India to create a national water movement called Paani ka Teeka. The project has brought together the music industry to join hands and create a “We are the World” like initiative to bring support to 1000+ water-stressed villages. Paani Ka Teeka’s project goals include Integrated Watershed Management including Livelihood Creation and Behavioral Change. The project aims to raise support through CSR, Philanthropists and Global Grants to work closely as a Public-Private Collaboration and bring impact to water-stressed villages of India.