The Hindu Business Line : ITC in nationwide drive for water conservation

Water everywhere
It brings together people in water user groups and trains them to plan and build water conservation structures
Trained farmers use their knowledge of the land to identify locations for these structures and develop related plans
The silt excavated from tanks is used to enhance soil quality

Bangalore , Jan. 8

Little drops of water make an ocean... This is ITC's tagline for its nationwide initiative for water conservation.

Called `Aashirvaad — Boond Se Sagar', this initiative is designed to help reduce water shortage in some of the badly affected, drought-prone districts of the country.

According to a company spokesperson, 1,202 small and large water conservation structures built by the company provide irrigation to nearly 31,000 acres of land in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. This programme will soon be extended to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The ITC rainwater harvesting programme seeks to achieve two main goals: water conservation and improvement of soil quality. It brings together people in water user groups and trains them to plan and build water conservation structures such as bunds, check dams, tanks and farm ponds.

Trained farmers use their knowledge of the land to identify locations for building water conservation structures and develop related plans. ITC contributes 75 per cent of the cost and the rest is mobilised by the user groups, the spokesperson said.

The silt excavated from tanks is used to enhance the soil quality. User groups raise regular contributions from farmers to meet the maintenance cost of these water conservation structures.

As part of the initiative, about 26,000 people have been employed to provide irrigation on about 31,000 acres and implement soil moisture conservation measures on over 37,000 acres.

According to the spokesperson, a dedicated team from ITC is involved with the project. This team works closely with farmers to identify new opportunities and locations to build these structures.

Funding mechanism

The mechanism of funding the initiative is simple: a predetermined portion of the realisation from every pack of Aashirvaad product (atta, spices and salt) bought goes towards the water conservation efforts.

This initiative helps the company partner with millions of consumers who buy Aashirvaad products to make a meaningful contribution to the water conservation efforts of the nation, said Mr Ravi Naware, Divisional Chief Executive of ITC Ltd - Foods Division, in a company press release.

According to the press release, ITC has been working towards water conservation for the last six years and its sustained effort over the years has made it a water-positive company by increasing rainwater conservation and reducing consumption by all its units.

This national water conservation drive is a big step toward communicating this philosophy, it added.

More Stories on : Society & Development | Water | Diversified | I T C Ltd | Karnataka

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