Maruti Suzuki India : inaugurates Manesar village’s Water ATM; provides access to safe drinking water

Gurugram: Clean drinking water is the basic prerequisite to a healthy life. As part of its CSR community development efforts, Maruti Suzuki India Limited inaugurated Water ATM in Manesar village. Manesar village is the largest village among Company's adopted villages. It has a population exceeding over 1 lakh residents.

As a part of village development initiative the company has set up 10 Water ATMs in its adopted villages in Haryana. These Water ATMs have cumulatively dispensed around 5 lakh litres of safe drinking water benefitting the residents.

Mr. A K Tomer, Executive Director, Corporate Planning, Maruti Suzuki India said, 'Access to safe drinking water was one of the key issues highlighted during our need assessment with the community. This prompted us to set up Water ATMs that facilitate access to safe drinking water at affordable cost. We started this initiative in 2016 and over the years the community has seen a fall in water borne diseases. We are happy that Manesar village panchayat invited us to set up this new Water ATM facility. We are happy that Manesar village too gets the benefits of this facility.'

Supported by Maruti Suzuki and set up by Waterlife India, the Water ATM facility is built on self-sustaining model. Maruti Suzuki has borne the initial project cost. The Manesar village panchayat has provided the land and is the project owner. The panchayat will provide the water and electricity to run the ATM. Waterlife India will undertake operations and maintenance of the plant for a period of ten years, and will sell water at a nominal rate of 35 paisa per litre, Rs. 7 for 20 litres.

The Water ATM has a capacity to generate 1000 litres of drinking water per hour. The 10 stage UV filtration technology by Waterlife ensures the water meets WHO and ISO10500 standards and retains essential minerals. The technology also helps in minimal water rejection: only 25% (1/4^th) compared to conventional water purification systems. This minimal wastage of water helps to lower the per litre cost.

About Maruti Suzuki's village development plan

Community Development is one of the three important pillars of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives- the other two being in the areas of road safety and skill development.

With the objective to bring about an overall improvement in the quality of life of people residing around its manufacturing facilities, Maruti Suzuki has adopted 26 villages around its facilities in Gujarat and Haryana. Ensuring direct supervision and control, Maruti Suzuki's interventions under community development, are results-oriented and concentrated in the areas of providing clean water, better sanitation facilities, improved educational infrastructure and development of common community assets.