The association aims to enhance rural livelihood in two years by restoring water resources and making safe drinking water available in 9 villages of the region
Mumbai: Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) has partnered with Asian Paints to enhance the livelihood of 4.2 lakh individuals in nine villages in Visakhapatnam through water and health initiatives. As part of Asian Paints CSR initiative, ACF acts as an implementing partner for this project to revive water bodies, install water filtration systems and create awareness among the community on judicious utilisation of water resources and health and hygiene for the next two years.
ACF has already begun work in reviving traditional water bodies and construction of water structures to increase storage capacity for drinking water. With this project, ACF aims to provide safe drinking water to 28,700 people from these villages where groundwater is not suitable for drinking due to high TDS and other water quality parameters.
Under the project with Asian Paints, ACF will also work closely with the communities to create health and sanitation awareness in villages located near Asian Paints plant area of Visakhapatnam. The objective of the initiative will bring behavioral change towards health and hygiene and improving sanitation habits of people in the area. The initiative will benefit 1.3 lakh people in 9 villages over the next two years. The project will focus on building capacity of ASHAs, ANMs and create awareness among the community towards better health and sanitation practises.
Talking about their CSR work, Andrew Williams, Assistant General Manager, CSR & Customer Centricity, Asian Paints said, “As a socially responsible organization, development and progress of underprivileged communities has always been an integral aspect of our core philosophy. We are really impressed with the work on water done by ACF in the region and hope that with our partnership, we would be able to make significant strides in improving the lives of our adjoining communities.”
Talking about the new partnership with Asian Paints, Ms Pearl Tiwari, Director & CEO, Ambuja Cement Foundation said, “We have been working in the areas of water and community health for over 3 decades and glad to see like-minded organizations want to replicate our model in other geographies. Our partnership with Asian Paints will further strengthen our mission to increase the availability of safe drinking water in more communities and thus lead to good health and sanitation.”
With the recent rains, a newly constructed Check Dam in Haripuram village in Visakhapatnam has already captured about 31,500 cubic metres of water which has recharged 12 tube wells benefiting 700 families staying in the area. ACF and Asian Paints plan to replicate the program models in many more communities of Visakhapatnam in the coming years.
(India CSR)
