Water Stewardship & Environmental Efforts in India

More than one in six people on Earth live in the country of India. Yet, the nation lays claim to less than four percent of the world’s freshwater resources. Both as a hydration company and as a partner committed to being a positive influence in the communities where we operate, The Coca-Cola Company has a special interest in ensuring access to clean water.

Working at the local level, we have helped to restore centuries-old bawaris– or community reservoirs – that had fallen into disrepair. The projects have included active community involvement to remove silt, rubble and algae, and to rebuild the bawari’s traditional, sustainable infrastructure. The restored bawaris provide fresh water to thousands of families in surrounding communities, and have served as the focal point for community education campaigns around water conservation.

And in one of the driest parts of the State of Andrha Padesh, we have worked to reconstruct a dam and reclaim a water storage area that had been rendered useless by silt. Some 16,000 people live in the nearby village and had faced shortages of irrigation and drinking water. The new reservoir – built on a site that was scientifically selected based on its ability to gather and store water – can now hold enough water to irrigate 1000 acres of cropland.

We have been recognized for our community programs and environmental practices by prominent global organizations such as the Red Cross and have won numerous prestigious Indian environmental awards.

Engaging at all levels to address India water issues

As with most environmental challenges we face today, water stewardship is a worldwide issue whose impacts are felt most acutely at the local level. Any viable strategy to ensure sustainable supplies of and universal access to clean water, therefore, must be driven by global vision and grounded in local action.

In and around the Indian city of Varanasi, The Coca-Cola Company is working with community leaders to combine the latest international water stewardship science with community water conservation and management practices that date back centuries.

The result is a promising series of discussions and actions that are yielding results in the ongoing challenge to protect a vital, limited resource.

For instance, on June 10, in celebration of Ground Water Day, a series of community discussions were held that brought together businesspeople, NGO representatives, elected officials, government engineers, and townspeople to develop consensus on what will be the most effective strategies for using less water where possible and making more efficient use of water resources across the board. Among the issues discussed was the expansion of rainwater harvesting, an ancient practice which is deployed in a more modern form by Coca-Cola bottling facilities across India. Scientifically constructed to maximize yield, rainwater harvesting facilities turn India’s rain-rich monsoon season into a year-round water asset by channeling runoff into holding reservoirs that recharge ground water throughout the dry season.

Also on June 10, in the nearby village of Bhikaripur, a group gathered to celebrate the restoration of the local talab, or village pond, a project subsidized by The Coca-Cola Company in conjunction with local leaders. For hundreds of years, Talabs had been a mainstay of many Indian communities – a shared resource that captured and stored fresh water for all to use. In recent decades, however, talabs have fallen into disrepair, exacerbating the effects of drought and other water resource pressures. The restored facility can now once again fulfill the vital role it has traditionally played in local water management.

Most important, while projects like these are highly localized in their immediate impact, each community partnership that yields a successful, indigenous approach to sustainable water stewardship is one more model to share in the international campaign to make every drop count.

Rainwater Harvesting

The Coca-Cola Company partners with the Central Groundwater Authority (CGWA), local governments and communities to help combat water scarcity and restore groundwater tables. Local government officials and NGOs identify critical areas, and then The Coca-Cola Company sets up rainwater harvesting partnerships with local resident welfare associations or communities in these areas to collect and recharge the groundwater tables.

NGO specialists execute the project and mobilize community participation, while The Coca-Cola Company facilitates the overall project and serves as the main funding arm. The partnership with CGWA ensures availability of technical expertise. Coca-Cola System employees also play an active role, helping with project coordination, selection of vendors, execution and maintenance.

The potential of rainwater harvesting is enormous. Local communities involved in the project are now better aware of conservation and the benefits of groundwater recharging. And the project is designed in a way that requires minimum recurring expenses and involves community residents right from the start—ensuring local ownership of the project.

The Coca-Cola Company also has initiated implementation of rooftop rainwater harvesting projects at all of its bottling plants, which will save millions more gallons of water a year at each plant. Additionally, The Coca-Cola Company shares its water management expertise with communities surrounding each of its plants, helping them to develop localized rainwater harvesting programs.

For four consecutive years the Government of Delhi has honored Coca-Cola India with a special recognition for the Company’s active participation in the State Government's Bhagidari (partnership) program to implement rainwater harvesting and solid waste management initiatives in various parts of Delhi.

Paper Recycling

Coca-Cola India, in partnership with the Department of Environment (Delhi Government), launched a Paper Recycling Project in Bal Bhawan Public School on Earth Day 2004.

The program will reach five schools in the initial phase. Coca-Cola India is contributing 50 percent of the total cost towards setting up paper recycling machines across all participating schools, with the balance provided by the Department of Environment, Government of Delhi and the schools themselves.

The objectives include teaching students the importance of environment protection, forest conservation, and creating a litter-free environment.

Environmental Conservation

To celebrate World Environment Day, Coca-Cola India partnered with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment to launch the "Clean Delhi Campaign."

The program seeks to protect, preserve and enhance the environment through activities such as desilting open drains and the daily collection and removal of garbage through customized rickshaws.

The Company has also installed dustbins at regular intervals in the locality to help teach waste management. Residents will be taught the benefits of separating waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable parts.

The campaign also consists of a series of seminars, spread over six months, to encourage members of the community to adopt environmentally friendly practices that are appropriate for their needs and conditions.

CII – ICRISAT & Coca-Cola Foundation Collaboration for Backward Areas Development through Strategic Intervention in Watershed Development

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Coca-Cola Foundation will collaborate for sustainable and equitable management of Rural Water Resources Infrastructure and other Natural Resources Management (NRM) through “watershed “interventions in Dungarpur district in Rajasthan and Thirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.

The objective of the collaboration is to improve the livelihood of poor and marginal farmers in the project villages. Further, this is also to evolve a strategy for rapid up scaling in the region such that optimum scales required for translating development interventions in to significant enhancements of land & water use productivity, agri production and rural incomes are achieved. This will be through plugging gaps in soil and water conservation projects, creating water access for poorly endowed families and efficient use of rainwater for improved agricultural practices. The farmers’ income will be further enhanced through diversification into high-value water efficient crops.

The collaboration is expected to lead to a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between ICRISAT and CII, which will provide a framework for cooperation on NRM and related activities in rainfed areas. ICRISAT and CII will undertake action-research on rainfed agriculture, conjunctive use of water resource and development of policy and institutions for sustainable & equitable management of water and other natural resources. Training and capacity building of target communities will be an important part of this project.

Within the framework of the MoA the Coca-Cola Foundation’s financial support will be used to implement “ watershed “ interventions in Dungarpur and Thirunelveli districts. The Coca-Cola Foundation -- supported by the Company and its bottling partners – works around the world to improve the quality of life in their communities.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the collaboration with CII and the Coca Cola Foundation will strengthen the institute’s partnership with the private sector to help the farmers in the drylands of India. This collaboration will add to ICRISAT’s public-private partnerships, which include collaboration on watershed development with the Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust and the TVS Agricultural Science Research Institute.”

According to Mr. S. Sen, Dy. Director General, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), “The CII slogan for the year 2005-06 was ‘Inclusive growth’ and a number of initiatives have been taken by CII in the Private-Public partnership model to improve the livelihoods of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). CII believes that a third category of partners i.e., knowledge partner is required to provide science and technology inputs. This project being presented here is a first step in this direction.”

These projects have evolved through CII initiative and it will be facilitating the smooth execution of these projects. CII appreciates the efforts of Coca-Cola India to help forge this linkage between Coca-Cola Foundation and ICRISAT.

According to Mr. Deepak Jolly, Vice-President, Public Affairs & Communication, Coca-Cola India, “A rapidly growing population, increasing food requirements and improved lifestyles along with industrial development in the country has resulted in competing demand for finite water resources. To achieve food and fodder security and to tackle the water scarcity problem in the country demands efficient use of rainwater and an overall water management plan. We are happy that our Foundation is supporting two such initiatives where ICRISAT in partnership with CII will be undertaking watershed development projects in Dungarpur and Thirunelveli.”

The one-year project will have a project outlay of US$ 140,000 entirely supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation.

ICRISAT has a long-standing experience in watershed development research. In addition to several watershed projects in the India, the institute has implemented projects in Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Ethiopia. These projects are implemented in partnership with the national agricultural research systems, the private sector, NGOs, and farmers.

In ICRISAT’s integrated genetic and natural resources management programme, the aim is to use participatory research and development to build the capacities of the farmers and community-based organizations to manage their resources efficiently and sustainably. The immediate result of integrated watershed management is enhanced water availability (both groundwater and surface water) for drinking and agricultural purposes. ICRISAT leverages its strength in quality research to help the poor by building their capacity to help themselves.

For further information, contact Dr S P Wani, Regional Theme Coordinator (Watersheds), ICRISAT at s.wani@cgiar.org.