Beedi workers look up towards clouds to quench their thirst
Little drops of water make a mighty splash
In every
crisis lies an opportunity. Here is one such inspiring story
Autos are
used to ferry commuters around the city, right? Well, in a little hamlet on the
outskirts, an “enterprising” auto driver found it more profitable to stock pots
of water in his auto and hawk them at high rates to needy families than to ply
his vehicle on the potholed roads!
The ‘Beedi Workers’ Colony is a low income group housing society in the outskirts of Bangalore, Where there are 570 houses and 8 bore wells which are dry.
The men in
this colony work as motor mechanics and autoriksha drivers, the women and
children roll beedis (local cigarettes) all through the day and night.
And with
the precious little that they earn, they BUY water! contaminated water! Awful,
contaminated water!
The “smart” auto driver who was hawking a pot of awful water for Rs 5 was collecting the water from Bharathi lake, behind
Isn’t it a shameful paradox that while most of us get 1,000 litres of WHO-standard water for a mere Rs 6, thanks to the BWSSB, these poor people pay Rs 5 for 12 litres of contaminated water? The haves are paying so little while the have-nots are being fleeced!
The RWH team found a small vacant plot full of weeds between 2 blocks in this colony. The kids in the block were using it as an open toilet. The plot was cleaned up, and RWH storage tank was built.
Then
sealed tank to prevent contamination as hygiene levels were found to be poor has
a tap on a platform with a lock. The roof water from houses in the two blocks
is channeled into the tank. A Popup filter makes the water fit to use.
Every time
it rains, queues form near the tank to collect pure, precious water.
What is
marvellous is the life style transformation that followed. The roof, which was
a complete mess of discarded cycle tyres and tubes, rotting leaves, old
clothes and brooms, was cleaned up by the residents: they couldn’t afford to
have their free and pure water supply contaminated!
Water from
harvesting rain in this colony is still inadequate but it solves some of their
water woes.