The Pimpri Water and Sanitation Project:

Blue Bell, Warrington and Pimpri, India's, Rotary Clubs Partner to Bring Much Needed Facilities to an India High School Serving Underprivileged and Rural Students.

Kadus is a town of nearly 10,000 people. It sits about 40 km. northeast of Pune in India's Maharashtra State. For years its Rambhu Mahalgi High School has worked hard to educate about 1,000 underprivileged boys and girls from the town and its rural surroundings, all the while functioning at a distinct disadvantage: no water. For years both students and teachers carried their drinking water to school. For years the girls would have to leave their classrooms to rush home to toilet!

Then beginning in 2007 the Rotary Club of Pimpri got into the act. One of its members, Dr. Rajagopal, who spends time in Blue Bell each year to visit family and has become an honored guest of our club, brought the project idea to us, and Blue Bell signed on. The proposal was to build a 30,000 liter underground water storage tank with the plumbing to pump water for separate toilet blocks for boys and girls and a separate storage facility for storing 1500 liters of drinking water. Twelve Pimpri Rotarians, led by project manager P. Jhambalkar, a civil engineer, drew up plans, raised funds, finalized the contract and supervised work, which was done by a local contractor. Still, before any groundbreaking could take place, more money had to be found.

That's what Dr. Raj needed from other Rotary clubs to be able to seek a final grant from the Rotary Foundation. Blue Bell said yes to contributions. Three Blue Bell Rotarians also agreed to monitor the project, communicating actively with the Pimpri Rotary. Another local club, Warrington Rotary, completed the partnership, adding enough funding to make it the lead partner. Rotarian Gul Asnani was able to visit the site to gain first hand knowledge of the project's progress. With all the dots connected, the Rotary Foundation okayed the project and provided the remaining funds.

Now that the project is complete, the school authorities and local government have vowed to keep the premises sparkling. Local villagers have also been motivated to offer help for similar projects in the area. And the students - well, they now have a full school day thanks to full plumbing and Rotary.