Our subsidiary, Tata Coffee‘s plantations are located along the Western Ghats, with 19 coffee estates, of which 13 are in Coorg. Just the right amount of rainfall, at the right time, is important for the health of these crops. However, rainfall patterns have changed over the last two decades.
Tata Coffee started its water harvesting initiative to help manage and conserve water resources better. A scientific process was instated to identify the best areas to build water catchments. The team identified the catchment areas through a GPS survey and built large storage reservoirs of over 110 hectares. The excess run-off rainwater is channelled through gravity into 250+ artificial open tanks that are created in the catchment areas, with a capacity to store over 2 billion litres of water. The paths leading to the reservoirs are well-vegetated to avoid soil erosion and silt accumulation. This water harvesting project helps Tata Coffee plantations in meeting 95% of their water requirement, while also recharging groundwater aquifers, enabling water conservation across the region.
Tata Coffee also ensures that the supply of potable water to its residential workforce population of close to 10,000 people is sustainable. Potable water from tube wells and open wells is supplied through an overhead reservoir. The Tata Coffee team has ensured that no pesticides or inorganic fertilisers are used in the zones around the river and streams flowing through the estate.
