Coca-Cola India, partners initiate projects to provide safe drinking water in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
India Water Review, September 27, 2020
Anandana, The Coca-Cola India Foundation, has said it has launched an initiative to provide safe drinking water in some districts in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in partnership with Jaldhara Foundation and WaterHealth India.
Several low-income communities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been facing the problem of inadequate access to clean drinking water. Deterioration and contamination of groundwater has led to high incidences of waterborne diseases, severely impacting health of the communities.
Salinity, fluoride, chloride, iron and nitrate are the key contaminants found in most groundwater samples of the Adilabad, Medak and Nizamabad districts of Telangana due to effluents getting discharged by industrial units. With no access to potable water supply, people are forced to drink untreated water from bore wells.
Anandana has invested in water treatment facilities of these districts to serve over 20,000 people of the community and provide them a sustainable livelihood. The initiative will facilitate improvement of community health by promoting consumption of safe drinking water and reducing susceptibility of villagers towards water borne diseases.
To help the communities, Anandana has supported seven water purification and dispensation units called WaterHealth Centers (WHCs). These are currently operational and are serving a significant proportion of the unserved population with safe, clean and affordable drinking water.
Additionally, setting up of WaterHealth Centers (WHCs) has created opportunities for direct and indirect employment for people in the region, thus, contributing towards overall socio-economic development of the area.
The Foundation had also initiated such projects in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra which faces similar water stress conditions.
“Coca-Cola India Foundation, Anandana in partnership with the local communities across India have made humble contributions for the past 10 years in being part of the solution towards providing safe and clean drinking water….Our partner Jaldhara Foundation and WaterHealth India have helped us successfully implement the project and positively impact the communities in Adilabad, Medak and Nizamabad districts. We will continue our sustained efforts in the direction to contribute towards community and environment”, said Coca-Cola India & South West Asia Vice President (Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability) Ishteyaque Amjad.
