IIT Kharagpur develops supply of purified drinking water project

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has developed a community supported supply of purified drinking water project at Porapara in West Midnapore district, West Bengal.

Dr Somnath Ghosal of the Rural Development Centre of IIT Kharagpur started a fully-automated multi-filtered UV treated drinking water facility. This facility can provide around 1000 litres of purified drinking water to 60 families every day at Rs one per family.

The land for developing a project is freely provided by a villager. However, IIT KGP has built the infrastructure and funded the entire project. The purified drinking water is provided to the villagers through water ATM vending machines.

Ghosal said, "Such self-managed purification units require little intervention in maintenance and require one-time investments that can become part of the CSR initiatives of both public and private enterprises."

The villagers have formed three committees to manage the entire operation of the unit, including its upkeep and daily management.