On our way to water neutrality

The world is in a state of climate crisis, and water as a natural resource is up against a multitude of challenges globally. Increased consumption and constrained supply are the most critical of them, negatively impacting human life, economic and social growth, development and geopolitical stability. The pharmaceutical industry, with its need of consistent access to water supplies, is at risk, and to mitigate it, we are targeting 100 percent water neutrality by 2025. To achieve this, we have adopted a three–pronged approach — water efficiency improvement, source water sustainability and watershed development — beginning with pioneering initiatives within and outside the fence.

Our outside-the-fence focus is on watershed development and management. Through watershed development, appropriate land use and water management practices are developed and implemented to protect and improve the quality of water and other natural resources within a watershed. It is a coordinated effort to manage water, land and related resources to bring about economic and social welfare without compromising vital ecosystems.

In FY2017, we embarked on a four-year project in partnership with Watershed Organisation Trust to build water harvesting structures at our site in Budhera, Telengana. The goal is to harvest rainwater, reduce soil erosion and increase water infiltration into the aquifer. Over the years, we’ve established drain lines and area treatments related to soil and moisture conservation, developed afforestation programmes, and captured significant amounts of rainwater thanks to the monsoons. Our programme, then, focuses on four main objectives — conservation of soil, rainwater and vegetation; harvesting surplus water to create additional water sources; covering non-arable areas effectively through afforestation; restoring ecological balance.

These projects have shown to have positive impact across the region. They’ve led to change in vegetation, agricultural activity, crop mix, employment and overall livelihood. In the past year, in the vicinity of the Budhera site, water levels in 11 bore wells have risen by 62 feet. This has resulted in the farmers being able to cultivate two crop cycles.

Today, we are developing a prototype model for watershed management based on our learnings from Budhera, which can be replicated in any geography with a very high success rate. At Budhera, we will harness its fullest potential in FY2020-21 and have plans to introduce more sustainable agriculture initiatives in the area to amplify the social impact of our interventions.

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