Renault Nissan India to revitalise 10 water bodies in Tamil Nadu’s Oragadam

On the occasion of World Water Day, Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL) today  announced that it is working to revitalise 10 lakes and ponds in and around Oragadam in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu and home to its 480,000-units-per-annum manufacturing plant. The company has set aside Rs 3.7 crore of CSR funds for restoring and revitalising these water bodies.

Work has already commenced on Oragadam lake, which is the primary source of water for six villages. Over the years, this lake has been gradually losing its carrying capacity due to a combination of soil deposition and other activities.

As part of its revitalisation work, RNAIPL will undertake to desilt and deepen the lake, amongst other protective actions, in order to increase its capacity by adding 1,17,500 kilo litres equivalent of extra storage, support groundwater recharging and increase biodiversity. In addition to strengthening the embankment of the lake, a 1,500-metre fence will also be built around the perimeter of the waterbody to prevent encroachment. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Dredging and desilting work is underway at the Oragadam lake.

The company has also initiated work to protect nine other lakes and ponds in and around Oragadam including in Ezhicur, Kandigai, Appur, Serapanenchery, Valayakaranai, Karanai Thangal, Perinjampakkam and Vattampakkam villages. The water bodies will be dredged, deepened and desilted to an average depth of about of one metre, adding much needed water capacity, thereby directly improving the neighboring community's living conditions and sustaining the availability of drinking water in the wells and borewells.

Commenting on the initiative, Keerthi Prakash, MD, RNAIPL, said, “RNAIPL is committed to minimising our impact on the environment and looking after the wellbeing of our communities. Water sustainability is a key priority for our operations and CSR focus. Our lake revitalisation projects will boost water conservation in the villages around our plant and will benefit both the people living here as well as help sustain biodiversity in the area.”

RNAIPL has already undertaken and completed the revitalisation of Sitheri Lake near Vallakottai village in 2020. The project helped more than double the carrying capacity of the lake supporting the improvement of groundwater levels.

Nearly 84% of the Renault Nissan Automotive India plant’s total water requirement is met through rainwater harvesting.

Water conservation at RNAIPL plant

RNAIPL employs several initiatives to conservatively manage its impact on the environment and water supply. Nearly 84% of the manufacturing plant’s total water requirement is met by rainwater harvesting. It has also put in place a ‘zero discharge policy’ that ensures water is recycled extensively. Additionally, the plant recently increased its capacity for sewage water recycling from 120 kilo litres a day to 300 kilo litres. The company also re-uses more than 400 kilo litres of water from its effluent treatment plants and water treatment plants for a variety of industrial purposes, minimising the demand for water supply. Cumulatively these measures help save an estimated 168 million litres of water every year at the plant.

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