The negative effects of unplanned urbanisation have started to pinch cities with challenges like water shortage and if projections are anything to go by, the situation is expected to get worse. The rapid decline in water spread area is taking a toll on citizens and is set to have a cascading effect on mankind in the future.
On World Water Day 2024, several Indian cities are grappling with an extreme water crisis. Thousands of people are seen queuing up for mobile water tankers every day, housing complex residents are paying through their noses to buy water, swimming pools are getting banned. These are common scenes from India’s water-stressed cities today. To explain the crisis through data, as much as 54 per cent of India is confronted with high water stress and almost 600 million people are at higher risk of surface-water supply disruptions.
In view of this, multi-business conglomerate ITC has implemented multi-approach water stewardship programmes that offer valuable solutions and the company has received highest-level global acknowledgements for its initiative. ITC is among the select two companies in India to enter the prestigious ‘A’ List in CDP Water and the only one from the manufacturing sector, surpassing the Asia regional average of ‘C’. Globally, ITC has joined the ranks of 101 companies honoured with the ‘A’ List designation for water security. CDP is a prominent not-for-profit organization that promotes engagement on global environmental issues. Besides, four ITC’s facilities have already achieved the Platinum-Level AWS (Alliance for Water Stewardship) Certification.
“ITC’s success is built on the foundation of 10 commandments — wastewater treatment, reviving rivers, revival of traditional structures, community engagement, precision climate smart agriculture, watershed development, water stewardship, responsible luxury, biodiversity management and public-private partnerships,” the company said in a statement.
Within the ITC facilities, several measures have been taken to ensure maximum water use efficiency around the ‘3R’ principle – recycle, reuse and reduce. This involves recycling industrial waste water in admin toilets after effective water treatment, reducing flow of water in nozzles, installing rainwater collection system, among others.
ITC has also initiated five river basin revival programme to achieve water positive status in river basin/sub-basin areas. In a span of five years, the Ghod River Basin has turned water positive.
“In certain targeted project areas, efforts have been made to restore indigenous systems for water conservation, such as Ahar Pyne, Community Tanks, and Rainwater Nallas. Using the power of the collective, ITC has supported grassroot institutions in villages in the form of ‘water user groups’,” it said.
ITC is also promoting innovative and water efficient demand management practices like micro-irrigation, zero tillage, broad-bed furrow, wider spacing, trash mulching, etc., across crops like paddy, sugarcane, wheat, soyabean, fruits and vegetables.
It also focuses on restoring watersheds near its facilities and in agricultural catchments. ITC’s Sustainability Programme focuses on efficient water management and conservation through watershed development initiatives which have covered over 15 lakh acres and benefited more than 4.40 lakh people. Over 36,600 water harvesting structures have been constructed till date under the supply side water management programme creating a storage capacity exceeding 51.85 million kl of water recharge structures. ITC’s Water Stewardship Initiatives in Sonesangvi village, Maharashtra, has transformed the community from dependency on purchased drinking water to self-reliance.
Meanwhile, aligned with its ethos of “Responsible Luxury”, ITC Hotels’ commitment to sustainability extends to the provision of ‘Zero Mile’ water under the brand name SunyaAqua, purified through an in-house water bottling plant. The ITC Grand Chola hotel in Chennai employs Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) to extract water from atmospheric moisture, which is then purified and bottled through the in-house SunyaAqua plant, further reducing its reliance on external water sources.
“ITC has also spearheaded a large-scale biodiversity conservation programme in its catchment areas to help preserve the nation’s rich biodiversity, which includes maintaining water-based natural ecosystems, and ensure a sustainable future for local communities,” it said. ITC has entered into 46 Public-Private Partnerships for Water Stewardship.