KARACHI: Coca-Cola Pakistan is partnering with Cantonment Board Clifton, Rotary International and 2 other organizations to establish 17 water filtration plants to provide clean drinking water for disadvantaged communities in various parts of Karachi.
This project under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) leg of Coca-Cola’s recent Karachi is Love campaign has a budget of Rs.26.78 million. All the plants will provide safe drinking water to over 383,000 people of low-income communities living in Akhtar Colony, Hazara Colony, Machhar Colony, Lassi Goth, and Khadim Solangi Goth, and Aatma Colony. One filtration plant will also be established at the Karwan e Hayyat Psychiatric Care and Rehabilitation Center to provide 4000 gallons per day water for the Center’s 100 beds hospital for in-house psychiatric patients.
Speaking about this CSR project, Fahad Ashraf, VP & General Manager for Coca-Cola Pakistan & Afghanistan region said, “This is not the first time that Coca-Cola has installed water filtration plants in Karachi. Previously also Coca-Cola had partnered with Rotary International to set up 5 solar-powered water filtration plants in several high-risk areas for polio in Karachi. The first reverse osmosis water filtration plant installed in Malir, and subsequently, a survey carried out by UNDP Pakistan showed that water-borne diseases reduced by up to 75% in the area.”
Water is central to Coca-Cola’s business and in 2006 the Company pledged that by year2030 it will return to nature an equivalent amount of water that it uses itself in its business, through a diverse range of water conservation projects. The target for Pakistan was to replenish 2.1 billion litres of water by 2019. A target that was achieved already by the year 2018 when Coca-Cola Pakistan became water positive; meaning it replenished more water back to nature than it uses. A quantity of 3 billion litres has been replenished through several long-term projects implemented all over the country in partnership with the bottling company, Coca-Cola Icecek – Pakistan, UNDP, WWF-Pakistan, Indus Earth Trust, Rotary International and the Mountain & Glacier Development Organization.
