Sulabh to make safe drinking water available in Bihar

An innovative project that aims at making contaminated water from rivers and ponds safe for drinking and promises to make the same available to the people at 50 paise per litre was launched here today by social organisation Sulabh International.

"The Sulabh Jal, which will become fully functional by December this year, would have the capacity to produce up to 8,000 litres of potable water every day. The safe drinking water will be made available to consumers at a nominal cost of Rs 50 per litre", NGO Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak said.

This project will be first of its kind in Bihar. He said before launching the project in Darbhanga, which houses a very large number of ponds, Sulabh had undertaken a similar drive in the neighbouring state of West Bengal in collaboration with French organization "1001 Fontaines". "Our pilot project, launched three years ago, in the districts of Nadia, Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas was a success.

Villages in these districts, along the Indo-Bangladesh border, reported a decline in diseases caused by the high arsenic content in the water", Pathak claimed. "There is a high concentration of arsenic and other harmful chemicals in north Bihar districts bordering Nepal and this project will go a long way in bringing about a change. This venture will be managed by local residents and NGOs.

Although installation would cost Rs 20 lakh, it will be a non-profit venture and the price of 50 paise per litre has been fixed taking into account costs involving distribution and storage as well", he said. "Although the is situated in Darbhanga, its benefits may reach wider as people from other districts would be free to purchase water from here", he added.

The project was launched at a pond inside the premises of the Darbhanga Nagar Nigam and the function was attended, among others, by local MLA Sanjay Saraogi. Saraogi had recently visited the water purification project in North 24 Pargana district of West Bengal with Pathak and seeing its usefulness had urged for the same in Darbhanga.