Tiruvannamalai
Our work in this area is based in the village of Samutram, located about a kilometre from the city centre of Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.
The people of this village are poorly paid agricultural labourers, and unemployment levels are high. Their primary water source is from a polluted lake, in an area that has been used for open defecation. As a result, incidences of waterborne illness are high, exacerbated by the lack of a local health care centre. So the focus for our project, as in other areas, will be the provision of a safe water supply, and eco-sanitation toilet facilities.
To ensure a reliable water supply, we will repair the existing damaged supply lines, and install stand posts. We will construct a 30,000 litre overhead water storage tank, which will supply the street stand posts. We will repair existing wells and handpumps in other parts of the village. We will construct individual family eco-san toilets, and educate each family in their benefits, maintenance and correct use.
This project will also provide a livelihood for the poorest families, through the provision of a compressed earth block making machine. The compost produced by the village eco-san facilities will increase the fertility of the land used for food crops. Any surplus can also be marketed, providing another source of income.
The benefits of this project to the village will be profound, with a safe supply of drinking water improving health and productivity, and eco-sanitation removing the risk of water table contamination, and the spread of disease from open defecation.
This project has been made possible by the sponsorship of Targetfollow Estates.
