The Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (WR, RD & GR), Government of India, Shri U.P. Singh, has called upon the Industry to adopt the Corporate Water Responsibility (CWR) as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions. Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop on “Increasing Water Use Efficiency in Industries” organized by the National Water Mission (NWM) here today as part of the “HarKaamDeshkeNaam” initiative, he said compared to global standards, our industry still makes very inefficient use of water. There is a need for a baseline study in various industries on the use of water in order to reduce water consumption, he added.Expressing concern over depletion of underground water table, Shri UP Singh said we are drawing 2.5 times more ground water than what percolates down under to maintain the water table level. Overexploitation of groundwater resources has led us to water scarcity, he said.“Punjab and Haryana, what are generally termed as the granary of India, may still be producing more crop of about 5,000 tonnes per hectare compared to around 3,000 tons in Jharkhand or Chhattisgarh, but the per unit productivity of water in these states is much more than in Punjab-Haryana,” said Shri UP Singh. “The real worry for us is not the traditionally dry regions like Bundelkhand, but the situation that has arisen in Haryana and Punjab,” he added.Pointing out that climate change has led to spatial and temporal changes in rainfall pattern in recent years, Shri UP Singh said, as a result we will face increasing frequency of drought and floods following changes in intensity and amplitude of rainfall.Speaking on the occasion, Shri G. Ashok Kumar, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, NWM, said the paper and pulp industry has been able to reduce water consumption by half but much more can be done as it is still five to ten times more than global standards.