Coca-Cola India celebrates World Water Day 2007

Shri S Manoharan (IAS), Additional Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, Richard L. Miller, Vice President, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited with other eminent persons at Jal Tarang Festival in New Delhi

WWD Celebrations in Gurgaon - Dr Narayan Hegde hoisting the balloon on the World Water Day at the Division Office.

Shri S Manoharan (IAS), Additional Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, Richard L. Miller, Vice President, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited at Jal Tarang Festival in New Delhi

Mr Sanjay Ubale, Secretary - Special Projects, Administration Reforms and O&M doing public dedication of the Oval Maidan RWH Project with Capt. Nickil Baswan. Oval Maidan is a 22 Acre 'Heritage I' category landmark in Mumbai. This is one of the largest RWH project in Mumbai City.

WWD - Bangalore

WWD - Chennai

Coca-Cola India dedicated several water conservation projects andorganized a range of awareness programs on water sustainability to celebrate World Water Day 2007. In Delhi, Coca-Cola India in association with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) celebrated World Water Day with around 350 school children from thirty schools in Delhi. The celebrations started with a march by the school children carrying placards with water conservation messages followed by a painting competition and panel discussion. Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof Saif-Ud-Din Soz participated in the function.

Jal Tarang - an annual festival to celebrate water was also celebrated in partnership with FORCE, an NGO working towards water sustainability. The event brought together hundreds of members from Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), NGOs, schools and colleges etc. The festival was inaugurated by S Manoharan Additional Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources. The event also witnessed the inauguration of a new Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) project at the Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi. The project will create a rainwater harvesting potential of 4 million litres per year.

A special session for employees at the India Division headquarters in Gurgaon was also held where Dr Narayan Hegde, President, BAIF Development Research Foundation addressed the employees and emphasized on the need to preserve water for meeting the present & future needs. Dr Hegde shared the ways of conserving water through variety of measures like watersheds, drip irrigation and check dams. A first of its kind, balloon hoisting was also carried out with messages on Water Conservation.

In North India, Richard L. Miller, Vice President, North Region, dedicated three RWH projects in the city of Varanasi. These projects covering a roof area of 5500 sq. meters will create an annual water recharge potential of over 4.9 million liters. The projects were commissioned in the city at locations frequneted by farmers as well as in schools and colleges. In all, eight RWH projects will be commissioned in Varanasi this year thereby creating an annual recharge potential of over 14 million liters. In Jaipur, S P Singh, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Chomu, dedicated the RWH project atop the Chomu Police station to the community in Jaipur.

In eastern India, another RWH Project in association with Rotary International was inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Sudhir Mahato at Carmel Junior College, Jamshedpur. In addition, 15 more groundwater recharge shafts were dedicated to the community in Kaladera. The number of recharge shafts in the area has now gone upto 140.

In Central India, a RWH project was inaugurated at the Oval Maidan, Mumbai and Chinchghar Primary School, Wada. Plan includes further augmentation of RWH structures at Oval Maidan to meet its daily water needs. Mr. Sanjay Ubale, Secretary - Special Projects, Administration Reforms and O&M dedicated the RWH project at the Oval Maidan. An interactive session on Water Conservation with Yusug Attarwal, a consultant on Water Conservation was also held in the Ahmedabad Unit to educate the employees on various Water Conservation measures.

In the South, a Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) project was inaugurated in partnership with the Association for the Mentally Challenged School, Bangalore. The project was inaugurated by K R Srinivasan, Director General of Police, Karnataka. The project covers an area of 1800 sq. ft. and will create a RWH potential of 1,31,000 liters. The Company has already undertaken several RWH projects at schools in Bangalore and has created a combined recharge potential of 2.72 million litres for these schools put together.

A kiosk was put up at the Beach Road in Vizag (Andhra Pradesh) to spread awareness on reducing domestic water consumption. In Chennai, the day was marked by a celebration in Corporation Girls School, Saidapet in partnership with Rotary Club. M. Subramaniyam, Mayor, Chennai Municipal Corporation presided over a function which was attended by more than 500 school children. A march by these children with placards carrying water messages was the highlight of the day. These projects and awareness programs were organized in partnership with regional and national NGOs, state and district administration and local communities which is keeping with the Coca-Cola India’s efforts of engaging with all stakeholders and work with communities across India with the aim to contribute to mutual growth and development.