Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has stirred a hornet’s nest by demanding that the state government should first supply water to agriculture and drinking water purposes, and only then direct it towards industries. He specifically wanted the state government to stop water supply to water-intensive industries which are non-essential, especially soft drink and bottled mineral water industries.

“There is a need to supply water for drinking purposes and agriculture first, and then to industries, especially soft drink and other water-intensive industries,” said Vikhe Patil.
He added that he would be writing to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and requesting him to issue directions in this regard.

“Why is it important to supply water to soft drink manufacturers and purified water industries when there is a water shortage in the state, and when several places are under the shadow of drought? Even the state policy states that priority for water supply should first be given to providing drinking water and then providing water for agriculture, and only the third priority should be providing water to industries. But here, they are diverting water from agriculture to industries,” said an official from the agriculture department.

“They are even taking action like reducing water supply to farmers, but at the same time, they have not let the industry face any shortage,” the official added.

Earlier in November 2010, too, the agriculture minister had said he was opposed to diverting water meant for agricultural purposes to industrial use.