CB BureauSafe Water Network (SWN) and Honeywell India have
partnered to provide access to affordable and reliable safe drinking water to
water quality-affected communities in Telangana. Funded by Honeywell India
grant, Safe Water Network is building 25 iJal safe water stations in Karimnagar
and Adilabad districts from 2015 through 2017. These stations will serve approximately
60,000 people in the area, which suffers acute groundwater contamination from fluoride.
Ten iJal stations are already operational in Karimnagar district.
As per the media release from the company, the
initiative is focused at addressing a critical water need in India – 100
million people live in areas of poor water quality. Telangana is ranked second on a list of
states with drinking water problems, with the union health ministry’s data
showing 1,174 hamlets across the state affected by fluorosis. Water- and
sanitation-related illnesses account for 70-80 per cent of disease, including
fluorosis, in this region. Data from a UNICEF study shows that only 35 per cent
of households in Adilabad district and 64 per cent of households in Karimnagar
district have access to safe drinking water.
‘Honeywell India is committed to improving the
world we live in by creating, supporting and nurturing corporate citizenship
initiatives that make a real, sustainable, and measurable impact on communities
that Honeywell serves. Safe Water Network India is a terrific partner in our
efforts, and we are proud to support their vision of offering access to safe
drinking water in Telangana,’ said Anant Maheshwari, president, Honeywell
India.
The iJal safe water stations claim to make a large-scale
impact without long-term reliance on funding. Within 24 months of operations,
90 per cent of stations are independent of ongoing subsidies for operations,
technical support and maintenance. Safe Water Network claims that their oldest
iJal station has operated with less than two per cent downtime for more than
five years, providing more than half a million litres of water to approximately
500 households.
‘Together with Honeywell, we are improving the
lives of 60,000 people in communities here in Telangana. In doing so, we are
also helping to demonstrate the potential of safe water stations for millions
more,’ said Kurt Soderlund, CEO, Safe Water Network. ‘We believe that business,
government, and civil society — working together – can accelerate the speed at
which people across India gain access to dependable and affordable safe water.’
Safe Water Network has been working alongside
communities in Ghana and India since 2008. In India, it has established more
than 100 iJal safe water stations in the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, and
Uttar Pradesh.