| Pattalakkunnu Water Harvesting Society, near Mannuthi, Thrissur |
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Walking in summer for more than 2 km to collect drinking water must have made the inhabitants of Pattalakkunnu, near Mannuthi, Thrissur think of alternate solutions. With a few graduates of Agricultural University giving technical anchorage to their high flying dreams, the villagers were soon on the way to implement a collective and simple solution to a local problem.
Initially, 60 persons united to form the Pattalakkunnu Water Harvesting Society with each investing Rs.700 each or 10% of the cost of the scheme, which essentially consisted of collecting rain water from the roof to replenish the stock of a 2000 litre storage tank. Balance Rs.4.95 lakhs is to be borne by Kerala Water Authority. While 2000 litre tanks are provided in each house, the excess rain water flow was guided into the household well after purification. Using a 7-folded piece of sari for filtering too has been tried in some instances.
At present 51 households have their water needs supplemented in this way. Seeing the positive benefits of the scheme, the membership has now gone up to 150. The youth have formed another organization called Society for Transfer of Rural and Agricultural Technology to focus their activities. A few staff of Agricultural University and a few retired hands are cooperating with the collective venture.
Courtesy: Mathrubhumi, July 8, 2004
Contributed by: Administrator
