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The powerful beer industry in Maharashtra could soon face water woes. Post a deficient South-West monsoon, the State government is thinking of drastically cutting down water supply, especially to industries in water-deficient areas such as Aurangabad.
Manufacturing 1 litre of beer requires about 9 litres of water. All major beer manufacturers have plants in the Waluj and Chikalthana industrial areas of Aurangabad, managed by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
A senior MIDC official said that industries in the area drew water from the Jayakwadi dam, which has a storage of only 4.6 per cent of the total capacity. In such a situation, water supplies to beer makers and other water-guzzling units will have to be cut. From the dam, about 3 million cubic meters of water is committed for the industries, which will have to halved, the official said.
Jayakwadi damThe official pointed that water from the Godavari river gets stored at the Jayakwadi dam and has a high pH (alkaline) value, making it most suitable for beer making. Since the beer manufacturers are solely dependent on the dam, they will have to drastically cut down their production.
The emerging water crisis can be gauged from the fact that the Marathwada region has 814 dams and reservoirs, with an installed capacity of 7,659 million cubic meters. But only 590 million cubic meters of water is in stock, which works out to 7.7 per cent of the capacity.
Political Analyst Nagesh Kesari said that the Jayakwadi dam can get water supply if it is released from the Gangapur dam in Nashik, which is further up stream, but bitter political rivalry will prevent it from getting adequate supply.
None of the large beer manufacturers except SABMiller India responded to BusinessLine’s questions on how they plan to tackle the impending water scarcity.
SABMiller India’s spokesperson said, “Scarcity of water is a matter of concern for the water users… We are monitoring the situation closely, and are in regular touch with the authorities including MIDC.”
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