Thematic Area: Water & Sanitation
Project Guide(s): Ms. Geena Prasad, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prof. Manoj P., Department of Management, Bangalore, and Mr. T. Satish Kumar, Department of Social Work
International Partners: Fabiana Spehar and Nicole Baker, Ryerson University, Canada
Amrita Partners: Krishna Gayathri M., Sheetal Babu, and Sreelekshmi P., Department of Social Work
Village: Kainakary, Kerala
Project Duration: 3 weeks
Identified Challenge & Aim:
Access to clean drinking water is greatly hindered during any natural disaster, with the quality of the water being an additional concern. This project seeks to understand challenges faced by rural residents during a natural disaster and the structure and execution of medical camps for disaster relief.
The Study/Innovation:
The team interacted with community members during medical camps and implemented a study on drinking water habits. They also engaged in various activities with community members to increase their awareness of waterborne illnesses. The activity helped the team learn that access to clean drinking water is greatly hindered during any natural disaster, with the quality of the water being an additional concern. Students were able to understand challenges faced by rural residents prior to and during a disaster scenario in terms of access to clean water resources, filtration practices, and possible sources of contamination. Finally, the team worked along with villagers to install and deploy a modular water filtration unit in a centralized location in the village.