ABDF

Thirruper (tee-roo-pair), short for Thirruperruntharai, is a suburb of Batticaloa, about 5 km (3 miles) north of town center. Strictly a residential community, it’s home to mostly lower middle class working families; small shopkeepers, trishaw drivers, teachers, construction workers and the like. Many commute into Batticaloa for their work.

Our water tank partner, Prabha, peers down Thirruper’s well.

As with much of the District, the 8 month long dry season means severe water shortage. The local District Secretary does provide potable water to Thirrupers’ residents; the 6,000 liter truck visits Thirruper three times a day. The problem is one of storage and distribution.

There is no water storage facility in the town. Thus the DS came up with a creative, if unusual, solution. Three times a day the water truck dumps its water down the town’s open well. Residents then have to use a bucket to draw out the water, before taking it home.

Boys are usually stuck with the chore of fetching water.

To say this solution is problematic would be understating the situation. First, pouring clean water down an unhygienic well raises all sorts of health issues. Second, the water in the well slowly absorbs into the dry ground, meaning that water is wasted.

Water is poured into large containers such as this one…

…and then biked home.

Thirruper officials have asked the ABDF to build one of our 10,000 liter tanks next to the well. The Mangikkadu Water Tank project is one example of our work in this area. Once complete, the villagers will have access to the full complement of water provided, and under more hygienic conditions.