Use of RO water has brought down the number of water borne diseases
The Barmer district in Rajasthan forms a part of the great Thar Desert and tops the list of prominent drought prone districts in the state. When Cairn started exploring in Rajasthan in early 2000, it quickly realized that water is a scarce resource in the region and was determined not to contaminate or impact the fresh water on which local communities and agriculture are dependent.
Harvesting water through Tanka and Tanklis
After starting exploration activities in the region, Cairn India helped build water reservoirs called Tankas and Tanklis to improve water availability. Tankas and Tanklis are one of the most important sources of drinking water in this region.
Water ATMs for 24x7 clean drinking water
Cairn India has combined technology with innovation to bring easy access and anytime availability of potable water to villagers. Under its “Jeevan Amrit Project”, Cairn India has installed water kiosks fitted with Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants to provide access to safe drinking water in the villages. Villages now have 24X7 access to water at the swipe of a card – at 20 litres for Rs.5. The cards come with an initial value of Rs.150 and can be recharged for a similar amount. Till date Cairn India has set-up 36 community based water RO plants across its operational areas. These water kiosks are covering a population of over 50,000 community members across eight districts viz a viz Barmer and Jalore in Rajasthan; Banaskantha, Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Jamnagar in Gujarat and East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.
The revenue earned is used by the village's water committee to meet the running expenses of the RO plant, such as salary of the operator, electricity and maintenance. The surplus money is used to undertake developmental work in the village, making the project self-sustainable.
‘Jal Raths’ for door-to-door supply of clean water
In order to make clean water accessible to a vast populace, Cairn India has introduced unique ‘Jal Raths’ for door-to-door distribution facility.
In order to strengthen the distribution network and scale up the RO Water reach in villages, Cairn India has partnered with the local Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and Sarvodaya Gramudhyog Samiti.
Jal Raths will now link 30,000 households with access to safe drinking water. Jal Rath is a Pick up Vehicle, which carries 2,000 litres of RO water across 8 villages. This water is given to the households at a nominal price.
Clean water, better health
The results are clearly visible. The number of water borne diseases, such as diarrhea in children, has come down. Cases of joint pain caused by high fluoride content in drinking water have also reduced.
Sua, wife of a local tailor, can clearly observe the difference the RO water has made. “Earlier, I had a hard time getting out of bed at 5 am due to joint pain, and felt weak in the daytime and often had to rest. But now all that has changed,” she says, while swiping her card before the tap begins to fill her can. Every day, she takes two cans of 20 litres each to meet her family’s drinking water needs.
Such sentiments are echoed by all other users,including Ratna Ram, Sarpanch of Sawai Padam Singh village, who became a role model after he inspired more than 100 households in his village to utilize safe drinking water and 4 other village sarpanchs to initiate the Jeevan Amrit project in their Gram Panchyats. He says, “My father used to take pain killer medicines on a regular basis since a long time as he suffered from severe joint pains. We have been using RO water for six months now, and miraculously, my father has stopped taking the medicines from last 2 months.”
The Barmer district in Rajasthan forms a part of the great Thar Desert and tops the list of prominent drought prone districts in the state. When Cairn started exploring in Rajasthan in early 2000, it quickly realized that water is a scarce resource in the region and was determined not to contaminate or impact the fresh water on which local communities and agriculture are dependent.
Harvesting water through Tanka and Tanklis
After starting exploration activities in the region, Cairn India helped build water reservoirs called Tankas and Tanklis to improve water availability. Tankas and Tanklis are one of the most important sources of drinking water in this region.
Water ATMs for 24x7 clean drinking water
Cairn India has combined technology with innovation to bring easy access and anytime availability of potable water to villagers. Under its “Jeevan Amrit Project”, Cairn India has installed water kiosks fitted with Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants to provide access to safe drinking water in the villages. Villages now have 24X7 access to water at the swipe of a card – at 20 litres for Rs.5. The cards come with an initial value of Rs.150 and can be recharged for a similar amount. Till date Cairn India has set-up 36 community based water RO plants across its operational areas. These water kiosks are covering a population of over 50,000 community members across eight districts viz a viz Barmer and Jalore in Rajasthan; Banaskantha, Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Jamnagar in Gujarat and East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.
The revenue earned is used by the village's water committee to meet the running expenses of the RO plant, such as salary of the operator, electricity and maintenance. The surplus money is used to undertake developmental work in the village, making the project self-sustainable.
‘Jal Raths’ for door-to-door supply of clean water
In order to make clean water accessible to a vast populace, Cairn India has introduced unique ‘Jal Raths’ for door-to-door distribution facility.
In order to strengthen the distribution network and scale up the RO Water reach in villages, Cairn India has partnered with the local Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and Sarvodaya Gramudhyog Samiti.
Jal Raths will now link 30,000 households with access to safe drinking water. Jal Rath is a Pick up Vehicle, which carries 2,000 litres of RO water across 8 villages. This water is given to the households at a nominal price.
Clean water, better health
The results are clearly visible. The number of water borne diseases, such as diarrhea in children, has come down. Cases of joint pain caused by high fluoride content in drinking water have also reduced.
Sua, wife of a local tailor, can clearly observe the difference the RO water has made. “Earlier, I had a hard time getting out of bed at 5 am due to joint pain, and felt weak in the daytime and often had to rest. But now all that has changed,” she says, while swiping her card before the tap begins to fill her can. Every day, she takes two cans of 20 litres each to meet her family’s drinking water needs.
Such sentiments are echoed by all other users,including Ratna Ram, Sarpanch of Sawai Padam Singh village, who became a role model after he inspired more than 100 households in his village to utilize safe drinking water and 4 other village sarpanchs to initiate the Jeevan Amrit project in their Gram Panchyats. He says, “My father used to take pain killer medicines on a regular basis since a long time as he suffered from severe joint pains. We have been using RO water for six months now, and miraculously, my father has stopped taking the medicines from last 2 months.”
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