Thanks to strong focus on water conservation and rain water harvesting, Chennai”s manufacturing hub, Sriperumbudur and Oragadam, appears to be managing the water crisis better than the famed IT corridor which has been left crippled.
Large manufacturing units such as Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Daimler India Commercial Vehicle (DICV) and Saint-Gobain are able to maintain production due to efficient water management practices and State government support.
“DICV is self-sufficient to meet its water requirements. The water and wastewater system network is planned in a way that it helps DICV draw synergistic benefit and keep the fresh water demand to a minimum,” said a company spokesperson. Apart from a rain water harvesting pond, all the buildings inside the complex are equipped with facilities for artificial ground water recharge. This help to replenish the ground water during rainy period and serve as source of fresh water throughout the year.
DICV doesn’t see any difficulties in meeting its water requirements over the next two months if the current situation continues.
“As one of the largest automotive manufacturing units in the Chennai-Oragadam industrial corridor, the company has taken significant steps to optimise water usage. It has three rainwater harvesting ponds within the factory premises. These ponds have 1.9 lakh kilolitres of storage capacity but presently the water levels have depleted considerably. The focus, however, remains to continuously look at processes and efficiencies in reducing water used per unit of vehicle made at the plant,” said a statement of Renault-Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd.
Hyundai said the prevailing water shortage in Chennai has had an impact on both people and processes in day-to-day operations. But it is stretching the available water supply to its 100 per cent utilisation.
The company has an elaborate rainwater harvesting system with four water storage ponds. An additional pond is also under construction. An in-house water treatment plant recycles 100 per cent of the water.
French glass maker Saint-Gobain’s complex in Sriperumbudur recently inaugurated a rain water harvesting (RWH) reservoir with a capacity of 72 million litres. Its overall RWH capacity has increased to 132 million litres. This will account for more than half of its water needs.
The company is also developing a high-density natural forest using several native tree varieties. In this Urban Forest initiative, it will plant 100,000 trees over nine acres. It has already planted 74,000 trees. The idea is to have green pockets in its campus.