Water scarcity may force 900 Nagpur MIDC units to shut down

Friday, July 25 1997

Water scarcity may force 900 Nagpur MIDC units to shut down

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NAGPUR , July 24: Nearly 900 industrial units in the Hingna estate of MIDC will have to close down from Friday owing to an unprecedented water scarcity. MIDC authorities have issued notices to the units that they will not be able to supply water from July 25.

The drying up of Ambazari lake indicates that Gorewara and Navegaon Khairi reservoirs which provide drinking water to the city would soon follow suit.The lake is the only major source of water for the industries. After deficient rainfall last season, the water levels in all reservoirs in Nagpur division was already below normal. This year, it has not rained much till date.

In the notice, the MIDC executive engineer informs the industrialists that since the water level at Ambazari was too low, supply to the Hingna estate had been cut by half since January this year.

All hopes were pinned on a bountiful monsoon this year. But, to compound the problem, the rains have played truant this year as well. According to the MIDC official, there is so little water in Ambazari now that supply to the Hingna estate will have to be discontinued altogether from Friday.

The notice has evoked a sharp response from the MIDC Industries Association. In a letter to the Chief Executive Officer, MIDC, Mumbai, the association has expressed shock over the notice to discontinue water supply.

Without water, some 900 industries in the estate would naturally be forced to close down. Besides the immense loss in production and goodwill of the industrialists in the market, it would affect the employment of around 2.5 lakh workers. The association apprehends that this might even cause a serious law and order problem.

What irks the industrialists most is that this is not a one-time crisis. ``The very purpose of creation of MIDC is to provide at least the essential infrastructure to the industrial units, especially when they have been paying ever-increasing charges to the MIDC,'' says the association's complaint.

The association's secretary, Chander Khosla, has sought to remind the MIDC authorities that members of the association have been raising the issue of water supply from Ambazari lake since 1987.