Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Water Purification Units To Benefit 75,000 People

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Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Water Purification Units To Benefit 75,000 People

Inauguration of the Golahalli Water purification unit

BIDADI: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) recently inaugurated two more of its community-based water purification units in Gollahalli village and Uragahalli village at Bidadi. The two new installations make it a total of 8 units built by the company- 6 in the Bidadi region, and one each in Varanasi and Vaishali.

All the water purification units have a 1000 litre per hour capacity accompanied with a minimum 6-stage purification system and has been benefitting over 75,000 people across 73 villages. Previously, four units were installed at Byramangala, Ramanahalli, Bidadi & Manchanayakana halli in the year 2014-15.

Commenting on the occasion Naomi Ishii, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said “The World Health Organization estimates that 21 per cent of communicable diseases in India are related to water. Sanitation and access to safe drinking water is the basic requirement of any and every community to progress. We at TKM believe in helping to build vibrant and healthy communities who can effectively contribute towards the nation’s development. The installation of the water-purification unit is a step to ensure our CSR focus is inline with the important requirements of the local community.”

According to a water analysis study conducted it was found that the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) level of the water used for day-to-day activities in Gollahalli and Uragahalli are 1830 and 650 which are way above the normal limit of 500. Similarly the calcium and magnesium levels in these waters were also found to be above the desired limit. The contaminated water undergoes six step filtration processes with reverse osmosis technology and UV rays in the Water Purification Unit to deliver IS10500 standard potable water.

Present at the occasion, Suresh, President of Kotagalu Grama Panchayat said, “Since our village is located in the Byramangala region which is highly contaminated due to release of industrial and sewage pollutants, the villagers used to face many health hazards due to presence of heavy metals found in underground water. We are grateful that TKM has made a significant contribution to address this problem by establishing large scale community based water purification unit. It will definitely help the villagers lead a healthier, better quality of life.”

Furthermore, TKM has also signed an agreement with Prajwala Karnataka Social Welfare Trust, a local non-profit that will maintain the unit for a period of 15 years. The NGO will carry out the day to day operations of the unit and comply with the IS10500 water standard. The users will be charged a nominal fee of Rs. 5/- for 20 litres of purified water to ensure it is sustainable.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor's CSR efforts over the years also include rebuilding a local residential school, construction of water tanks in rural Bangalore that benefit around 80,000 people; construction of 450 toilets for households in villages around Bidadi, awareness on environmental conservation for local schools; distribution of school materials like bags, books, computers, and chairs to under-privileged student.

In addition, TKM has also pledged it's support to the ‘Swachh Bharat' campaign. The company constructed 500 units of sanitation facilities of which 125 units are located in Varanasi, 250 units in Ramanagara district in Karnataka and 125 units in Vaishali in Bihar. Overall through its CSR projects TKM has touched over 8,03,474 lives.