Community water tank

Access to clean drinking water and a reliable water and sanitation system is a public health issue. Water contamination is the main cause of illness in the villages, especially during the summer  and monsoon. The health of the forests, location and density of villages, livestock, and water management all have an impact on the quantity and quality of water for domestic use.

Chirag encourages the community to take care of their water resources by repairing existing sources, laying pipelines, building rainwater harvesting tanks and community water tanks and installing latrines and soakpits to prevent contamination of water sources. Along with latrines, we also encourage villagers to build a bathroom to provide some privacy for women.

We now test the water  sources in villages that we work in.  Along with the tests, we inform families about ways to purify water – such as boiling and using chlorine. There is a growing water crisis in the region. The natural growth in population, construction and the growing importance of the region as a tourist destination coupled with a decrease in rainfall and in particular winter precipitation have led to springs drying up and the demand on existing sources of water increasing. Rather than focus merely on the distribution of water, Chirag is currently trying to enhance the recharge of springs in the region by adopting a hydrogeological approach to understand the movement of water underground and in planning measures to increase infiltration in a more strategic manner.