KOCHI:More than 1 lakh villagers have begun to receive clean drinking across Kerala through 127 water filtration units installed by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math as part of its Jivamritam project. In the next two months, the Math intends to take the number of these units in the state to 200, benefitting an additional 60,000 people from the marginalised rural communities, helping avoid the health problems plaguing them due to water contamination and water-borne diseases.
The project was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in October 2017. Speaking on World Water Day on Thursday, Maneesha Sudheer, director of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Centre for Wireless Networks & Applications, who heads the Jivamritam project, recounted the various projects undertaken by the Math and the Vidyapeetham related to water conservation, water distribution and management.
“Over the past six months, 50 faculty and 200 students from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham have worked tirelessly to install 127 community water filtration systems in Kerala, including 55 in Alappuzha, 16 in Kollam, 11 in Thiruvananthapuram and 10 each in Thrissur and Kozhikode. By May-end, the total number of systems installed will reach 200, offering clean drinking water to 60,000 more people.”The Jivamritam project was conceptualised and designed by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s faculty and students.