Creating awareness on water quality
Armed with test tubes, chemical reagents and a heady dose of determination, schoolchildren in Delhi and across India are waging a battle against water pollution. By wading into rivers, dipping into groundwater and tapping municipal water outlets, these children are learning about what makes their local water source safe, or not, to drink. Even more importantly, they are learning what they can do to make a difference in their communities and their environment.
In 1996, Development Alternatives (DA) launched the Community Led Environment Action Network India (CLEAN – India) after the success of the Delhi Environment Action Network (DEAN) program. The CLEAN – India program targets children by working with local schools to promote environmental awareness among the students and to foster a greater sense of stewardship for their natural resources. As the future leaders of India, these children are in the best position to influence their communities and catalyze change for the better.
Over the years, the initial group of five schools grew, and now we are working with almost forty schools in the Delhi area alone and monitoring over 150 sites across the city for water quality. Added to those numbers are the numerous schools in communities across India, such as Shillong, Faizabad, Ladakh, Bangalore, Berinag (Kumaon Hills), Jhansi, Sagar, Bilaspur, Lalitpur, Madurai, and Thiruvananthapuram.
So far, the CLEAN – India program has been a great success. The children involved in the program are enthusiastic and plans are in the works to continue expanding the program to more towns and villages across India and even in other South Asian countries. The program itself has grown beyond water quality monitoring and now includes:
water quality monitory with the jal TARA kit;
air quality monitoring with the pawan TARA kit;
water harvesting and conservation activities;
water filtration using the Slow Sand Filtration Unit;
education on vermicomposting and paper recycling;
tree planting activities;
anti-polybag, firecracker and chemical dye campaigns;
Adopt-a-slum; and
environmental audits.
Water harvesting and filtration are two of our newest projects. In cooperation with local schools, we are promoting the use of these technologies to conserve and reuse water resources. Already, three schools in Delhi have constructed underground tanks to capture unused tap water from their drinking water fountains and reuse it for gardening and other maintenance activities. Owing to the success of the project, plans exist to implement this initiative in our other CLEAN – India locations.
Similarly, we are looking to install our Slow Sand Filtration Units in schools and communities in Delhi and beyond. These Units have been developed by the TARA Environmental Monitoring Facility to naturally filter bacteria and other contaminants from the municipal water supply using a specific ratio of fine sand and pebbles. In addition to our own offices in Delhi and our field unit in Orchha, one school in the suburb of Noida has benefited from this technology. We are currently negotiating with a residential community in the Delhi area to implement the project there. Once the financial, environmental and health benefits of this system are known, we will be able to disseminate the technology over a wider area.
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