Water has always been referred to as the ‘Elixir of Life.’ And there is no doubt that it’s essential for the very survival of life.
However, fresh water merely makes up only 2.5% of all of Earth’s water, moreover, it’s unevenly distributed. Therefore, as our population rapidly increases; water scarcity only grows into a more serious problem for farming communities and people in cities. And with global warming and climate change, water scarcity further evolves into a bigger problem. Today, water security is very much at risk and it is fundamental to manage it in harmony with local ecosystems and communities.
India is faced with a severe water crisis with over 600 million people grappling with high water stress. More than 75% of households do not have drinking water on-premise, as for rural India; more than 84% of households lack simple piped water access.
Punjab, which is home to our Infant nutrition factory is also grappling with water scarcity with over 80 % of households not having access to safe drinking water. And given the fact that it is essentially an agricultural state; it is faced with an acute water crisis due to lesser than normal annual rainfall (700 mm). Since 1998, 82% of the state’s land area has also been witness to a huge decrease in underground water levels.
Danone has been heavily engaged in water stewardship over the past 20 years. The company’s strategy is articulated around three key objectives covering Danone’s entire value chain:
We have developed mitigation programs and environmental roadmaps to increase our water use efficiency and enhancing waste water quality in our operations in Lalru, Punjab. We are also working towards reducing water consumption, increasing circularity in our operations, and achieving higher cleanliness of discharged water through our high-level internal standard called ‘Danone Clean Water Standard.’
Our endeavour is to give back to nature and replenish the ground water twice as much as what is used in our manufacturing site.
