Romit Sen

Water, known as the elixir of life is fundamental for human sustenance. Water bodies have played an important role in the development of our towns and cities. In addition to maintaining the ecosystem and providing a source of freshwater, these water bodies have provided recreational spaces to the city dwellers. However, anthropogenic activities have impacted the existence of our freshwater bodies. A large number of water bodies across different cities face the threat of extinction due to neglect and apathy. Once a source of relaxation, these water bodies have now either become invisible or are an eyesore.

The booklet on Urban Freshwater highlights the importance of these water bodies in maintaining the ecosystem of our towns and cities. It enumerates the growing threats and lists out measures which can be employed by various citizen groups for conserving and saving our urban water bodies.

FICCI-HSBC Knowledge Initiative involves publication of best practices on water conservation across various sectors. The first compilation in the Knowledge Initiative series comprises a background paper on Water Use in Thermal Power Plants and best practices from 5 major power companies part of the FICCI Power committee.

The thermal power sector accounts for the highest water use amongst all industrial sectors. Rising power demand will mean greater generation; this in turn would lead to high water consumption. The standing committee of MoWR predicts a three times increase in water demand for the Thermal power Sector during the time period 2010-2050.

The case studies included in the publication demonstrate the efforts of Indian Power companies (namely Adani Power, Essar Power, Jindal Power, NTPC, and TATA Power) who have undertaken large scale measures on water conservation through rainwater harvesting and reduced their fresh water intake through desalination and wastewater treatment and reuse. These initiatives in addition to creating environmental benefits also lead to economic gains.

The chemical industry is critical for the economic development of any country providing products and enabling technical solutions in virtually all sectors of the economy.

Water is a key component in the chemical sector and is required for multiple processes. The Indian chemical sector is growing rapidly and with the increase in production, the water requirement would also increase. Availability of water can
become a limiting factor for the sector.

The report Water Management in Chemical Industries is therefore important in highlighting some of the best practices adopted by the industry in minimizing freshwater intake, enhancing effluent treatment and reuse. An important aspect of the case studies presented is the importance given to zero liquid discharge.

The report Sustainable Agriculture Water Management highlights some of the best practices adopted by the industry in minimizing freshwater intake and enhancing food production.
The case studies included in the publication demonstrate the efforts of Indian companies (namely Coca Cola India, Pepsico India, Monsanto India, Jain Irrigation and ITC Limited) who have undertaken large scale measures to reduce the freshwater intake in agricultural production. The water conservation measures adopted by companies range from direct seeding of rice, use of drip and sprinkler irrigation, rainwater harvesting and watershed management. The development of low cost technologies and its use for better irrigation scheduling is an important area of work which is receiving major attention.

In addition to significant amount of water savings, the above interventions have also yielded savings on electricity, reduced manual labour to irrigate fields and enhanced the productivity ensuring better economic returns to the farmers.

Feeling the pulse is the study of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), India's  major rural sanitation programme across 5 states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Haryana and Tripura. It tries to assess the performance and impact of the TSC programme.