Cleaning a Water Tank

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry…

Knowing the value of clean water in our lives, Sanjeev Kattimani a student from Deshpande Susandhi Krishi Chetana (SKC) in Shishunal decided to take an initiative and clean a water tank. In order to achieve a better result in a short period of time the LEader asked team mates to accept a challenge and help him to provide community with clean water.

Sanjeev explained the value of clean water and his reasons to do this project. Being a true LEader and being example for his teammates, Sanjeev gave them all the necessary guidelines and advises to finish the project. First, LEaders found 2 tanks in Shishunal that needed to be cleaned. The LEader shared his project with Mr Gururaj Desh Deshpande and got approval, support, encouragement and funds for cleaning and painting the tanks.

The LEader was aware about the problems that might cause dirty water and he decided to create awareness about safety of drinking water as well as to solve the problem. Many people supported Sanjeev. Overall, there were 200 people who were benefited by Sanjeev ‘s initiative. The LEader and his team accomplished this project on October 2, 2014. From now on, the tanks in Shishunal are clean and the water is pure.

Project: Krishihonda (Rainwater Harvest)

Nagaraj Naik (Govt First Grade College, Sirsi)


Rainwater harvesting is the conservation of rainwater to be reused for future needs.  Nagaraj and people in his village of Karoor constructed a krishihonda to help harvest rainwater.  30 villagers benefitted from Nagaraj's project. 

Project: Groundwater Recharge

Naveen (BVBCET)

Naveen became seriously concerned that the villagers in Hallikeri would face a water problem during the summer.  As an engineering student, he thought to use his technical knowledge to help society and conduct a borewell water recharge in the village.  His strong determination inspired him to raise Rs. 27,000 /- from his fellow students, the villagers, and SRDS to help fund this project.  Naveen's project helped provide water throughout 12 acres of land.

Project: Quenching the Thirst

Shweta Gudshi (HSIT, Nidasoshi)

With the summer heat fast approaching, Shweta recognized that finding ample drinking water could become an issue.  She was especially concerned about how a local orphanage would deal with this water problem.  To help the orphanage, she purchased a mud pot and donated it to the orphanage.  She also spent some quality time with the children of the orphanage. 

In the future, Shweta hopes to implement this project on a larger scale. 

Project: Drainage System

Deepa D S (Chanuka First Grade College, Davangere)

The village of Kodihalli did not have a proper drainage system, and the village was progressively becoming dirtier.  Deepa approached the Gram Panchayath and Zilla Panchayath to solve this problem.  Rs. 13 lakh was sanctioned from the government, and the drainage system was completed within 8 months.  Deepa felt very satisfied by her success.  Her project was showcased in Yuva Summit 2013 and won the "Best Project" award at LEAD Valedictory, Davangere.

Project: Well Cleaning

Shashank (R L Law College)

Shashank observed dirty water in a well near his home.   The well was full of plastic algae, and other waste products.  He decided to take on the challenge of cleaning this well so that it could be used domestically.  Shashank arranged a meeting with local leaders to agree upon  the requirements for the well cleaning, and the expected date of completion.  Shashank then made the necessary arrangements to hire a pump, a tractor, and laborers.  Many villagers came forward and volunteered to help with the cleaning efforts.  The well was cleaned and painted in only a single day.  The well now provides water for 10 households.  

Project: Save Water for the Future

Pooja 

Pooja observed that the people of her village faced a grave water shortage in the summer. Pooja decided to take initiative and find a solution for the problem.  There was one well in her village that was not being used.  Initially, she approached the people of her village with the idea to renovate the unused well, but she was not able to attain any financial support from them.  With financial support from the LEAD Program, though, she was able to raise enough money to renovate the well. 300 people in her village are now benefitting from the renovated well, and water shortages in the village are no longer an issue. 

Project: Do We Drink Pure Water?

Kunal Dipak Sambrekar (AITM, Belgaum)

Kunal continued his project by combating the carelessness shown by the Belgaum District Health Office.  He filed several objections against officials that hindered his efforts. Kunal’s hard work and perseverance to bring healthy drinking water to villages has triggered a tremendous amount of response from various health inspectors, who are now looking for ways to maintain proper cleaning of water tanks and ensure healthy drinking water for villages. 

Project: The Construction of Sub-Canal at Mudalgi Village

Shrishail (BLDE BBA College, Jamkhandi)

After noticing a serious water problem in his village, Shrishail approached the government officials and convinced them to provide a sub-canal facility for his village. A short two weeks later, construction on the sub-canal facility began.  15 acres of land are now receiving proper irrigation because of Shrishail’s project.

Project: Automatic Operated Water Pump

LEADer: Nitinkumar Meghannavar

College: KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belgaum

Water plays a key role in human life. In some areas, water get wasted from overflow of the overhead tank. This depleted both the water resource as well as energy resource. To overcome this the team made an attempt to conserve the resources. It is most useful for people of the house, who face problems in switching on/off the pump at regular intervals of time. The water pump can be installed in old age homes, hospitals, hotels, hostel, and colleges. The team started the project with a proper plan, sketch of the equipment and the list of raw materials required. Convincing the residents of the house was a difficult task but after explaining the importance of the project, they gave their support. The purchase of materials, machining of materials and assembly were some of the activities done. But the main problem was the switch (one of the part of equipment), which the team was not able to find one that is suitable. To overcome this Nitinkumar and his team designed their own model and it worked, then after the installation of the equipment, they demonstrated it to the residents. The moment when the pump automatically turrned off, everyone present there was surprised and happy. They congratulated the team for their work. After the completion of this project many of the team's neighbours and friends were interested and ready to install it. As of now the team has seven orders from places including Chikodi, Dandeli and Sulebhavi.

Project: Tap Water

LEADer: Disha Bhat

Disha Bhat from BVBCET found that people are wasting lot of water in Annageri  village. She came up with an idea that by using simple sensor technology it would reduce the wastage of water. She and her team went to Annigeri village and implemented this module for ten families.  She explained to the villagers how science is used in our daily life.

Project: Fixing Light Fixture at Neelamma Pond

Winner of Best Individual Initiative and Action Award – Dharwad Region 2012

Anusha’s effort s was made possible by using a government fund of Rs. 30 lakh.  There is a huge pond at Navalgund and around it there are no street lights, so many illegal activities were taking place. People who come for late evening and early morning walks used to have difficulties walking in the dark. Recognizing this problem LEADer Anusha A. Hebsur from SJMVS College for Women, Hubli took initiative to install street lights at Neelamma pond for the residents of Navalgund.

First she visited the local office of Karnataka Electricity Board, Navalgund. In the first visit she did not get a satisfactory response from the department. Next day again she visited the department, at the Talluk Panchayat office she got to meet the chief officer where she collected all the information related to Neelamma pond and plans for the same from the department.

According to Anusha:  “I got to know from KEB that the government has approved a big amount to develop and renovate the pond to provide drinking water to the residents of Navalgund and a fund of Rs. 30 Lakh has been sanctioned for the electrification and lighting of pond. I decided that I will not leave my idea here so I started regularly visiting the KEB office. The chief officer was positive with my idea and cooperated well.  Usually it takes a long period to see the progress of work in government departments but I kept on doing regular follow up with the concerned officers for the progress of work and the result of it was that within a period of one month 49 electric poles with lights worth Rs. 30 lakh were fixed.”

Project: Technology Transformation in Daily Life

LEADer: Soumya Hegde 
Team Members: Priyanka, Mamata
Date: 25/2-7/3/2012
Location: Balgar

Soumya wanted to fix the problem of water wastage in his Balgar village using simple technology. He collected information on sensor technology and convinced 5 families to adopt this technology in their daily life. With the help of the electrician he fixed sensor equipment to the water machine. Since then, there is no wastage of water and the villagers are much appreciative. 

Project: Water Facilty to School in Kundagol

Education is the most important part of everybody’s life; it helps to lead a dignified life. Neetha Hiremathm a student of BCBCET, Hubli, came across a school in a village called Kundagol close to Hubli, which was facing drinking water problems. Student had to drink water by asking the nearby houses. Leaders knew that for these school the afternoon's food is supplied by the government and drinking water is very important. Looking at all this Neetha decided to take up this as her LEAD project so that all those students could be helped.

She visited the school in Kundagol to know the actual situation and got to know that the problem came from the storing of the water. Teachers told them that they get drinking water from their respective homes. They expressed their idea to the school principal and got permission to make arrangements for water supply. After a week-long process the real work started on 18 Jan and ended on 22 Jan, 2012. She, with the help of her team members, made all the necessary arrangements before bringing the tank. Leaders arranged money to purchase the tank and utilized a part of money supported by LEAD to purchase syntax.  

The main challenge for them was to raise the fund for purchasing the syntax tank and  another was to carry the huge water tank from Hubli to Kundagol village.

The most memorable experience for the Neetha was the feeling of satisfaction that now children can drink safe water without any problems.

Neetha said that, “Through this project we learnt leadership skills and how to lead a team, how to resolve differences in a team. Finding out their problem and solving the same, it has been the greatest achievement. The outcome was that more than 100 children got benefited.”