Mexico City, July 12 (RHC-teleSUR), -- Over 400 mines in Mexico use enough water to meet the annual needs of 3.2 million people, more than one-fifth of the Mexican population without running water in their homes, according to an investigation reported by local media Monday.

With a whopping 115.3 billion gallons of water used annually by 417 mining companies doing business in the country, there is growing concern about the water scarcity, which is on the rise and affects millions of people.

Transnational corporations, mostly based in North America., are the biggest beneficiaries of Mexico’s mining industry. The mining corporations in Zacatecas use more water than the entire local population. The Canadian mining giant Goldcorp, through its local subsidiary Peñasquito, is by far the biggest water consumer in the region.

Canadian mining corporations have a notorious record in Latin America and Africa. Earlier this year, over 200 environmental, Indigenous, and human rights organizations petitioned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make Canadian mining corporations more accountable for human rights violations and environmental destruction caused in overseas operations, scores of cases of which have long gone unpunished.