The global water crisis takes lives of more than 14,000 people each day, 11,000
of them children under age 5. Women and girls spend more than 200 million hours
every day walking to collect water from distant, often polluted source. The time
they could have spent in education and generating incomes for their household! To
address such issues we have the vision of working with people, corporate, NGO’s
and likeminded partners and build a “ Relationship” with every individual who thrives
to bring a holistic makeover to such needs of the hour. Our objective is to stimulate
political attention, public action, and personal commitment to environmental preservation
and providing potable water to mankind.
“The essence of Eureka Forbes since its inception in 1982 can be summarized in single
word – ‘Relationships.’ Relationships have made us reach out to people in their
homes, transforming the way they purify their drinking water and the air they breathe,
clean their homes and secure their families so that they lead happier, healthier
lives. In this endeavor we have opted varied ways to ensure that both the urban
and the rural Indian community gets clean potable water. Our most recent approach
has been a rural channel which is striving to bring safe, affordable drinking water
to people at the bottom- of-the-pyramid as well as solution-based community water
systems(customized), generating non- agrarian employment and creating rural entrepreneurs.
For years together Eureka Forbes has become a name synonymous with selling but we
pride ourselves in going beyond selling. It is our firm belief that unpolluted water
& air is the birthright of every Indian and with this vision we set up the Eureka
Forbes Institute of Environment (EFIE). The institute promotes awareness about conservation
& management of natural water & air resources. Our endeavors include Pollution Watch
(a tie-up with a prominent national television channel to telecast air and water
pollution levels in key cities monitored by the Institute), Euro Enviro Quiz (India’s
only environment-centric quiz for school children in association with over 450 schools
across India), Euro Ambassadors (enthusing school children to enkindle the environmental
spark in their homes and neighborhoods) and Rainwater Harvesting (enlightening people
on how to harness this precious water source in tandem with local bodies, co-operative
societies an d governmental institutions resulting in over 600 million liters of
rainwater being saved till date). ‘Project Jal Amrut’ has augmented the water resources
in drought prone areas through rainwater harvesting with the first projects being
in Rural Maharashtra. The Euro School of Environment was set-up to formalize the
education movement and give it a fillip. It began with a course on becoming eco-friendly
citizens and has since enhanced its curriculum.
The key to the Eureka Forbes rural approach is involving the community. All Eureka
Forbes rural projects are designed to empower communities, with local water committees
overseeing construction and ongoing maintenance of the projects. Since the people
who benefit have a real stake in the outcome, it helps to ensure that the projects
are sustainable over the long term. All of our projects have a health education
component, which is vital because many of the people in the project areas lack a
good understanding of sanitary practices. Appropriate technology options in water
treatment including both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU)
designs have helped the rural community to tackle some of the dreaded water related
diseases which otherwise was ignored for generations.
The key to the Eureka Forbes rural approach is involving the community. All Eureka
Forbes rural projects are designed to empower communities, with local water committees
overseeing construction and ongoing maintenance of the projects. Since the people
who benefit have a real stake in the outcome, it helps to ensure that the projects
are sustainable over the long term. All of our projects have a health education
component, which is vital because many of the people in the project areas lack a
good understanding of sanitary practices. Appropriate technology options in water
treatment including both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU)
designs have helped the rural community to tackle some of the dreaded water related
diseases which otherwise was ignored for generations.
One such example is the successful establishment of the community water plants in
Manikyapuram a small village in Andhra Pradesh. The project was driven through a
cross-sector partnership model where organizations from different sectors came together
and offered an opportunity to leverage skills, knowledge and resources to accomplish
things that each partner, on its own, would not have achieved. The objective to
remove the dangerous levels of fluoride in the water in Manikyapuram was successful
by building up the “Relation” and collaboration of the community, local government
and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) such as World Vision. Many of the 1,300
villagers had suffered for years from anemia, weak teeth, sore joints and even birth
defects in their children because their drinking water had a high level of total
dissolved solids (TDS), including fluoride.
Today, there are more than 70 Eureka Forbes reverse osmosis plants and 40 ultraviolet
water treatment plants in 35 rural and four urban communities. The communities have
enthusiastically embraced the water plants. At the official opening in Singarajupalli,
one woman exclaimed, “I’ve waited 30 years for this!” Since the partnership began,
World Vision has also relied on Eureka Forbes to provide water filter units for
emergencies. To date, over 10,860 units have been distributed to flood-affected
areas in Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. Eureka
Forbes has recently developed a manually-operated filtration unit specifically for
emergency use, which produces 500 liters of clean water per hour. The pilot in Manikyapuram
has provided the first example of an innovative new business model—not only for
Eureka Forbes, but also for the women of the village. The filtration unit is now
owned by the self-help group, which also supervises its operation. They generate
revenue by charging the potable water to the community. One 20-litre container sells
for three rupees, compared to 10 rupees for water transported in from safe areas.
The partnership is now aiming to provide the purification units to another 20 villages.
In our continuous endeavor of creating a sustainable environment we have also spearheaded
into diverse fields like use of solar lanterns, solar powered community water treatment
plants and solar powered sewage treatment plant, etc. Thus, Eureka Forbes is committed
to build a happy, healthy pollution free world that is built on trust and lasting
relationships. We believe that our bonds would help us to grow faster and care for
many more families, building relationships that last…a lifetime: A true friend for
life. We look forward to work with likeminded people and organizations. Please write
to us at
rajesh.roy@eurekaforbes.com
or call us on 09892889123 and visit us at www.eurekaforbes.com.