April,26,2016:

These Units are consuming around four Million Litres of Water per day.

While taking cognizance of the acute drought condition and water crisis in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, the Aurangabad Bench of the High Court of Bombay on Tuesday directed the State government to order for a 50 per cent water cut for distilleries and breweries in the area with immediate effect and an additional 10 per cent cut from May 10.

The Bench also ordered that water cuts for all other industrial units be enhanced by five per cent from the current cut of 20 per cent from May 20.

In a situation when people have not seen water for days, it is inhuman that breweries were guzzling the precious resource, a Bench comprising of Justices S.S. Shinde and Santeetrao Patil observed.

All industrial units in Marathwada Region gets around four million litres of water per day from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The High court’s decision will cover 13 districts. There areabout 16 distilleries and breweries that are located in Aurangabad, including those of SabMiller and Carlsberg.

From the begining of this month, the clamour for water cuts for breweries turned louder. The district administration of Aurangabad announced a 10 per cent water cut for industrial units and 20 per cent for breweries and distilleries about a fortnight ago. The cuts were steadily increased last week with the Aurangabad Divisional Commissionerate slashing supply of water to distilleries and breweries by 25 per cent and other industries by 20 per cent, after protests by farmers and political parties, including the ruling Shiv Sena Party.

The High Court had also directed the government to further work out a plan to cut at least 50 per cent of the supply to liquor and beer units.

The Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) and the Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA) on Monday filed a civil application before the Bench in which they said the water cuts could affect the region’s economy and destroy the livelihood of nearly one lakh people.

The ruling BJP is divided over this issue. Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde opposed water cuts to Industrial Units, while Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan backed these measure.

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