Industrial production hit due to water crisis in Pithampur

Industrial production in Dhar district, where around 850 industrial units including 138 large and medium ones are functioning, has dwindled up to 25 per cent for want of water, an industry body said.
"Production in the Pithampur Industrial area has been hit by 20 to 25 per cent with MP Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (MPAKVN) stopping water supply since yesterday," Pithampur Audyogik Sanghatan President Gautam Kothari told PTI.
The production will fall further if water supply isn't restored, he added.
Kothari also alleged that MPAKVN did not maintain the two reservoirs supplying water to industrial units properly and did not crack down on the people in the area who draw the water from these reservoirs illegally through pumps.

It was charging the highest water tariff in the country at Rs 31.46 for 1,000 litres since April, he said.
However, Indore MPAKVN managing director Manish Singh denied the allegations, saying that two water bodies had dried up due to the summer and water was being supplied to the industrial units from other sources.
The water charges in Gujarat and other states were much higher, Singh claimed, adding that water cess was charged as per the capital investment of respective industrial units.
A Rs 300-crore project was on the anvil which would provide water to the industrial area from Narmada-Shipra river link, he said.