Award to honor exemplary work in the field of Water Conservation and Management
Follows World Water Day where Union Water Minister Prof. Saif-Ud-Din Soz released film on water titled "Harness the Flow"
- Coca-Cola India announces 'Skoch Coca-Cola Challenger Water Management' Award for excellence in Water Conservation and Management by individuals, NGOs, Corporates, Institutions or even Panchayats following World Water Day
- The launch was carried out by Hon'ble Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof. Saif-Ud-Din Soz
- Coca-Cola India to commission 40 new projects in the country this year - Continues with its efforts of Public-Private Partnership for Community Development
- Launches a Film on Water Conservation "Harness The Flow"
New Delhi, March 25th , 2006: Coca-Cola India, launched the 'Skoch Coca-Cola Challenger Water management' award in continuation to its World Water Day celebrations. This award will aim at acknowledging individuals, NGOs, Corporates, Institutions or Panchayats that have undertaken admirable work in the field of water conservation and management. This is taking forward from the message made clear by Union Water Minister Prof. Saif-Ud-Din Soz at the recent World Water Day celebration - Jal Tarang organized by FORCE, an NGO and Coca-Cola India in New Delhi.
The final award will be announced on the 28th of March 2006 and the winner would not only receive a citation, trophy and but also a cash prize at the culmination of one week long celebration of World Water Day by Coca-Cola India.
Speaking about the award Mr. Atul Singh, President & CEO, Coca-Cola India said, 'Coca Cola India is committed to the cause of Water Conservation through Public-Private partnership. Honorable Minister for Water Resources urged us at WWD to institutionalize a process of recognizing people who contribute so much to excellence in Water Resources management. This is a step in that direction. We believe the Model adopted by Community Based Organizations and RWAs in this regard has delivered great results, and this award is an effort to recognize excellence in this sphere and further motivate other local communities to come forward to participate in this initiative.'
This follows the Jal Tarang Celebrations where Coca-Cola India and Union Water Minister Prof. Saif-ud-din-Soz joined together with the community to acknowledge the need for the nation to acknowledge the water crisis facing us and took an oath to work towards bettering the situation. On the occasion the Minister also launched a Rain water harvesting system executed by Coca-Cola India in partnership with Gulmohar Club, New Delhi.
This RWH unit will haven the capacity to recharge over 3.72 million liters year after year. As a part of the celebrations he also launched a film on Water Conservation "Harness the Flow" produced by 'Counterpoint' in association with Central Ground Water Board and supported by Coca-Cola India. This film which delves on the problems of ground water and the methods to conserve it, has been telecast on Doordarshan and is planned to be telecast on national TV channels.
Speaking on the occasion, Hon'ble Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof. Saif-Ud-Din Soz, had said that fresh water is a global challenge and needs the urgent attention of all stakeholders. Although fresh water is a global challenge, the solution to this problem is local. It is heartening to note some path breaking initiatives on water, being taken by many NGOs & corporates in the communities in which they operate. I am specially appreciative of the efforts of FORCE and Coca-Cola India for taking the lead in this regard. I would also like to thank the Gulmohar Park Club and Central Ground Water Board for being able partners in this water conservation project.
Further, Coca-Cola India also flagged off several Water Harvesting initiatives on this day across the country including Mumbai, Varanasi, Jaipur, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The construction of Check Dams has been started in Vizag and Nalgonda among other water conservation projects at Neemam and Lucknow. All these projects have been initiated in association with local NGOs, State and District water management committees.
This year Coca-Cola India will commission 40 such units. The company already supports several such projects with 200 RWH structures in 17 states of the country including 50 RWH structures in Delhi. In Delhi alone, the existing RWH structures have the potential to harvest more than 100 million liters of water.
