IIT Madras to provide water to nearby villages
PARTNERSHIP The institute will implement the corporate social responsibility project of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited in the three villages near the Cauvery Basin Refinery in Tamil Nadu
CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras has joined hands with Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) to provide solar power, safe drinking water and create better sanitation conditions in the villages of Vellalapakkam, Gopurajapuram and Panangudi Villages in Nagapattinam district. The project will be executed over the next 24 months in coordination with the state government at an estimated total cost Rs. 14.49 crore.
The CPCL is funding the ambitious project in these villages, which are near its’ Cauvery Basin Refinery, Nagapattinam, under its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). The CPCL has Refineries in Chennai and Nagapattinam districts of Tamil Nadu.
IIT Madras submitted proposals to execute the project and entered into an MoU with CPCL. Ravindra Gettu, dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras, signed the MoU with M. Sankaranarayanan, chief general manager (HR & Legal), CPCL, in the presence of Rajeev Ailawadi, director (Finance), CPCL, at IIT Madras recently.
Speaking about the importance of this project,Gettu said, “CPCL and IIT Madras have partnered in various R&D, technical and HRD projects in the past and we are confident that this CSR project of CPCL will contribute immensely towards societal improvement.”
Professors Ligy Philip and BS Murty, department of civil engineering, IIT Madras, have already visited the villages along with CPCL officials to ascertain the requirements and begin planning the project. They also held consultations with CPCL officials on the requirements for the project.
Welcoming the contribution of IIT Madras, Ailawadi said, “We expect the project to be one of the showcase CSR Projects of CPCL and we assure that CPCL will provide all support required to IIT Madras towards its execution.”
IIT Madras will conduct topographical survey to study the area and ground levels for designing water distribution system.
It will also assess the pond and conduct water quality testing, estimate the yield of wells in the area and carry out an electrical resistivity survey to design borewells. A social survey would also be conducted in the project to obtain the feedback of people in the area and obtain their cooperation.
Looking forward to collaborating with IIT Madras on the CSR project, Sankaranarayanan said, “We hope that CPCL and IIT Madras can jointly transform the lives of the poor and needy of these villages.”
During the initial surveys, it was found that many toilets in the households of the region were soak pits, which was an environmental hazard as the outpit will contaminate the groundwater. IIT Madras has recommended converting all such toilets in the villages to septic tank-based treatment that would cause less harm.
IIT Madras will also execute a household level rainwater harvesting system at a cost of Rs. 60 lakh and cover around 600 households in the region.
This will mitigate, to some extent, the seawater intrusion during rains and improve the quality of ground water quality. Excess rain water can be guided to the water bodies adjacent to the villages.
IIT Madras will also work towards constructing Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plants and Drinking Water distribution systems in the village schools / anganwaadis, rejuvenating and rehabilitating the water bodies. The institute will also improve the pedagogy and infrastructure in all the village schools /anganwaadis. Solar Power for households, compost yard construction, skill development and health care activities would also be undertaken.