Fed up with recurrent stomach ailments caused by consumption of contaminated water for years, a group of villagers in the Sundarbans have started running a groundwater treatment plant on their own.
Hand pumps, the only source of drinking water at the Dakshin Shibpur village under Patharpratima block, are not only contaminated but also have dissolved iron and salinity rendering the water unsafe for drinking.
"The taste was really bad and we had frequent stomach- related problems like acidity after drinking the tube well water," complains 23-year-old housewife Surekha Das.
According to a recent United Nations report, more than three million people in the world die due to consumption of contaminated water.
In India, over one lakh people die of water-borne diseases annually.
The World Bank estimates that 21 per cent of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water.
To address this problem, local NGO "Sundarbans Social Development Centre" and international NGO "Save the Children" organised the villagers and provided funds to set up a small water treatment plant.
Villagers got together and Tanmay Kumar Das, also a local Panchayat Samiti member, volunteered to part with his land for the plant.
A submersible pump was installed which drew underground water from a depth of 980 feet and channelled it through a filtration process which starts with an online chlorine dosing for pre-oxidation.
