Transforming Water Stewardship: Collective Action To Create Community Impact

India's water treatment capacity is 27.3 per cent and the sewage treatment capacity is 18.6 per cent (with another 5.2 per cent capacity being added), according to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board in March 2021.

While speaking on the 'future of water stewardship: Collective action, measurement and community impact at the BW Businessworld's Sustainable World Conclave, experts noted that the transformation of water stewardship in India requires a collaborative approach through public-private partnerships and collective efforts. 

"Water stewardship has become a crucial focus for businesses and enterprises due to growing concerns over water scarcity and sustainability. By implementing responsible water management practices, organisations can ensure equitable resource utilisation, minimise environmental impact and achieve economic benefits," said Nitin Bassi, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Santhosh Jayaram, Global Head- Sustainability, HCL Tech spoke about why water stewardship is important for HCL technologies. Water is a paradox because we still don’t value water. That’s why we thought it was one of those key issues that require customised solutions to the local parlance, he said.

"Our sustainability philosophy is simple- act, pact and impact. The act is a recognition that it all starts with us, the pact is a recognition that we cannot do it alone, we have to do it in collaboration and impact is the outcome of the act and pact. We try to minimise our water usage with whatever little we can as we are not a water-intensive industry. We have multiple projects linked to water but there is one project where we helped recharge 150 water bodies," Jayaram stated.

Rajneesh Chopra, Global Head - Business Development, VA Tech Wabag, whose company has a substantial presence in water treatment and wastewater treatment space shared, “Much before people started talking about sustainable developmental goals, we took up the initiative to save water. We are offering sustainable solutions for a better life for 5 decades now. Most of the projects that we do, we work with the urban local bodies, so we try to integrate water and wastewater management in line with the circularity.”

A report by Niti Aayog revealed that 50 per cent of the country is in water-stressed condition, said Paul Abraham, President, of Hinduja Foundation, adding, “It’s a huge admission and needs to be addressed on a war footing.”

Also, Ruhana Zariwala, Global Head- Sustainability, Cipla said that public-private partnership is the way forward to tackle the issue highlighted by the esteemed panellist. Shedding more light on the same. He said, "For the success of every public-private partnership, it's very important that it has a good governance framework and transparency in the decision-making and planning process. Regulatory oversight is required to ensure accountability and safeguard the interest of the communities."

Talking about the role of government agencies in the effective implementation of initiatives, Ramnath Vaidyanathan, Associate Vice-president and Head of Environmental Sustainability, Godrej Industries and Associate Companies said, "We don’t have the expertise, so we rely on the expertise of implementation partners and the government agencies who give us the information and helps us to make these important decisions. It also involves consulting with the communities and downstream communities also. Even after having the best intentions, you may still create problems. But being involved and hands-on on these projects, helps us to act effectively. You are never going to be perfect but that shouldn’t stop you from doing things.”