Project Oorani

Sir.C.V.Raman, the renowned Indian physicist, rightly said that water is the elixir of life. Clean water is indispensable for leading a healthy life. But there are over 800 million people in India¹(over two times the population of United States) without this basic necessity. The World Bank also states an alarming figure - 21% of the communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. It naturally becomes important to address this situation. Over the past decade, the phenomenal industrial advancement in India has helped improve drinking water facilities in many cities. Yet much of rural India, that represents a majority of the country’s population, is still devoid of clean drinking water. Families from such villages (mostly women and young children) trek three to four hours just to get a few pots of drinking water everyday.

The Oorani Project is aimed at providing a solution to this misery. An "Oorani" is a village tank or pond used for harvesting and storing rainwater². Ten sites (villages) have been selected in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for constructing Ooranis. About 50 volunteers, primarily alumni from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, are currently participating in the first phase of this project which will be executed by the DHAN foundation. They are sponsoring and managing the construction of Ooranis in ten villages spread across Southern India.

Anand Charity is privileged to join hands with the DHAN foundation to construct an Oorani in the village of Borajguda of the Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh. The village comprises of 50 families whose members travel for around four hours to fetch potable water. The villagers are optimistic that an Oorani harvesting water along with the regular household water filters (bio-sand filters) would immensely relieve their hardships. The Borajguda residents are contributing 1/4th of the total project cost (USD$1250 out of USD$5000) establishing their commitment to maintaining the pond and sustaining the project's vision.

The project will be executed under the leadership of Ms. Raghini from Dhan Foundation and is expected to be completed by September 2008. An Anand Charity volunteer will monitor the progress of the construction of the Oorani on a periodic basis.

Healthcare in India is one of Anand Charity’s focal interests. It is our belief that projects such as this would have a grassroots impact there. Anand Charity is proud to take a step in the right direction. If you would like to extend your assistance to Anand and DHAN with the Oorani project and other similar ventures, please donate here.

Anand Charity at Borajguda:

• The aim of this project is to construct an Oorani with bio-sand filters in the village of Borajguda in Andhra Pradesh
• The project will be executed with the help of DHAN foundation under the leadership of Ms. Raghini.
• The project is expected to be completed by September 2008.
• A volunteer will monitor the progress of the construction of the Oorani on a periodic basis.

Please donate generously to this project here.

¹ http://www.drinkingwaterforindia.org/ie.html

² The details on its construction and scientific methods are going to be presented at the PANIITM 08 conference