IIT Kharagpur develops community-supported supply of purified drinking water project
What's the story
IIT Kharagpur has developed a community supported supply of purified drinking water project at Porapara in West Midnapore district of West Bengal. Dr. Somnath Ghosal of Rural Development Center of the premier institute has installed a fully-automated multi-filtered UV treated drinking water facility which can provide close to 1000 liters of purified drinking water to 60 families every day at Re. 1/family. Here's more.
Information
A villager provided free land, IIT Kharagpur built the infrastructure
While the land was freely provided by a villager, IIT Kharagpur built the infrastructure and funded the entire project. The villagers are now getting purified drinking water through water vending ATM machines using water cards from the facility launched about ten days ago, IIT-Kharagpur said.
Maintenance
Such purification units require little intervention in maintenance: Ghosal
Ghosal said such self-managed purification units require a one-time investment that can become part of CSR initiatives of both public and private enterprises. The entire operation of the unit, its upkeep, and daily management, are being done by the villagers who formed three committees for it. Financial needs of the unit are to be met through daily payment by the villagers, IIT-Kharagpur's statement read.