Question : UTILISATION OF GROUND WATER BY SOFTDRINK COMPANIES

(a) whether the Central Ground Water Board has undertaken a probe in to the extent of utilisation of ground water by soft drink manufacturing companies in various parts of the country following a directive by the consultative committee of Ministry of Water Resources;

(b) if so, the findings thereof and the action proposed to be taken if any, against the companies;

(c) whether the use of ground water by multinational companies is causing alarming decline in ground water level; and

(d) if so, the remedial measures envisaged by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES (SHRI PRIYA RANJAN DASMUNSI)

(a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.2 FOR REPLY ON 05.07.2004 REGARDING UTILISATION OF GROUND WATER BY SOFTDRINK COMPANIES

(a) & (b) As a follow up action of the meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources held on 21st August, 2003, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) had approached the State Governments for collecting information on ground water usages by softdrink manufacturing companies in various parts of the country. In response, information has been received in respect of 20 number of softdrink units located in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. A statement indicating the location and average monthly ground water utilisation by these units is enclosed at Annexure.

(c) & (d) Declining trends in water level in the range of 0.1 m/year to 1.7 m/year has been observed in and around 5 softdrink units located in Kheda, Motibhoyan, Ahmedabad area in Gujarat State and Chomu and Jaipur areas in Rajasthan State. This declining trend cannot be attributed only to ground water withdrawal by softdrink manufacturing companies. The substantial declining trend is a cumulative effect of ground water withdrawal for irrigation, domestic and industrial purposes also.

Water being a State subject, it is primarily the responsibility of the concerned State Governments to take remedial steps to check over-exploitation of ground water. The following remedial measures are also envisaged in this regard by the Central Government:-

(i)	Regulation of ground water withdrawal.

(ii)	Adopting artificial recharge.

(iii)	Treatment and recycling of industrial waste water.

Sl. Name of Soft Drink Location	Average
No. manufacturing Company	monthly ground water	utilization (Kilolitres) 1. Hindustan Coca Cola	Moula Ali, Hyderabad, Nil Bottling South East Pvt.	Andhra Pradesh Ltd. 2. Hindustan Coca Cola	Ameenpur, Ranga Reddy, Nil Bottling South East Pvt.	Andhra Pradesh Ltd 3. Narmada Drinks Pvt. Ltd.	Builaspur, Chhattisgarh 2345.5 (Coca Cola) 4. Chhattisgarh Beverages	Urla, Raipur, Chhattisgarh Nil (Pepsi) 5. Hindustan Coca Cola	Goblej, Kheda, Gujarat 28500 Beverages Pvt. Ltd. 6. Surbi Milkfoods &	Village Motibhoyan,Kalol, 9900 Beverages Ltd. (Coca	Gandhinagar, Gujarat Cola) 7. Pepsico India Holdings	Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 2340 Pvt. Ltd. 8. Pepsico India Holdings	Jhagadia, Bharuch, Gujarat Nil Pvt. Ltd. 9. Pepsico India Holding	Nelamanagala, Bangalore, 30600 Pvt. Ltd.	Karnataka 10.Pepsico	Bangalore Mysore Road, 7170	Karnataka 11.Hindustan Coca Cola	Bangalore, Karnataka 4200 Beverages Pvt. Ltd. 12.Coca Cola	Plachimada, Palakkad, 15000	Kerala 13.Pepsi Cola	Palghat distt., Kerala Nil 14.Coca Cola	Pilookhedi, Distt. Nil	Rajgarh, Madya Pradesh 15.Tripty Drinks (p) Ltd.	Jagatpur, Cuttak, Orissa 6000 (Franchise of Pepsi) 16.Hindustan Coca Cola	Khurda, Orissa Nil Beverages (p) Ltd., 17.Hindustan Coca Cola	Chomu, Jaipur, Rajasthan 16,500 Beverages (P) Ltd. 18.Jai Drinks Pvt. Ltd.	Jaipur , Rajasthan 6300 (Pepsi) 19.Hindustan Coca Cola	Dasna, Tehsil Hapur, 75000 Beverages Pvt. Ltd.	Ghaziabaad, Uttar Pradesh 20.Diamond Beverages (Coca	Kolkata, West Bengal 4380 Cola)