The Machilipatnam Imitation Jewellery Park (IJP), which indirectly exports its products to five Asian countries, is in the throes of water crisis, a prime source required to run the industry.
Set up in 2006-07 at the Pothepalli village on the outskirts of Machilipatnam, the IJP tried all possible ways to get access to water in vain. Ironically, an effort to harvest rainwater also did not yield any result, leaving the production units in a quandary.
The 105 units in operation require one lakh litres of water per day. According to an agreement, the IJP was allowed to draw 60,000 litres per day from the Machilipatnam Municipality water source through a pipeline. In 2015, the authorities curtailed the supply to 20,000 litres per day.
Groundwater
A pond spread over 2.5 acres on the 50-acre IJP campus was dug up in 2015 to tap groundwater.
Unfortunately, the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) count per mg/L in the area was found 15000.
The TDS count in the water should be 10 times to use in the production of jewellery through the electroplating method, which is a key and final production stage. The IJP equips demineralisation plant to process water to attain the required range of TDS count. “We have tried rainwater harvesting in the pond but the water parameters have been changing due to soil and groundwater source,” MIJPMA president P.V. Subba Rao told The Hindu .
No takers
Though production units were allocated to 236 individuals, a majority of them were reluctant to begin the production, owing to lack of water.
“Production in many units has come to a standstill. Nearly 25 units have downed the shutters in the park and returned to Machilipatnam, citing non-availability of water,” added Mr. Subba Rao.
40,000 workforce
According to the MIJPMA statistics, nearly 40,000 workers are engaged in the industry including 2,200 workers in the IJP and more than 80% of them are women.
The maximum annual turnover of the 120-tear-old industry exceeds ₹100 crore. The pieces are exported indirectly to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
