Water ATMs transform lives of villagers in Greater Noida

This nondescript village on the periphery of Greater Noida, is as rural as can be. Narrow lanes that come to a standstill every time a car passes by, fields are sown with crops of the season, idle kids engaging themselves in novel games, veiled women washing clothes by the community pond, this village looks like many others.

But that is where the similarity with its counterparts ends. Ranhera is now busy scripting a unique story of its own, one that has a water station as the main protagonist.

Installed by an enterprising villager who had seen his village falling victim to water borne diseases with alarming frequency, the Save Water Station is slowly changing the fortunes of Ranhera.

Twenty eight-year-old Rahul Sharma brought this water station which provides clean, potable water to more than 250 families, in 2015, after he decided to do a homecoming from the neighbouring city of Faridabad, Haryana.

After scouting around, he utilised the outer portion of his house to set up a clean water plant, with the help of an NGO, Safe Water Network, that has been setting up an independent station to provide clean drinking water in rural as well as urban areas.

"I could not cope with city life and always longed to come back. I grew up drinking ground water which is contaminated with all sort of chemicals. It always nagged me that we should have access to pure water, and being a village should not be a hindrance," he says Sharma as he checks on the plant. What started with a handful of people two years ago now has people drinking literally out of the water station's hands. Regular awareness campaigns in schools, door to door visits on the benefits of potable water have a steady stream of around 1500 loyalists. Villagers can buy a 20 litre can of filtered water for Rs 6. In summers, the water station which is powered by solar energy also dispenses cold water, which is priced at Rs 10. It also caters to water distribution points or water ATMs in three nearby villages.

The story does not end with a tumbler of safe water. The water station has also generated employment in the village that has farming as its primary source of income, giving jobs to "idle youths". The station has employed around 15 people under various capacities like electrician, supplier to ATMs, driver and support staff, enabling each of them to earn between Rs 4000 to 5000 per month.

Drinking clean water has also improved the overall health of the villagers, something Dr Sunder Sharma, village general practitioner will vouch for. "We have seen around 40 per cent dip in diarrhea cases, especially in children. Though there still are village folk who do not want to consume this water, but we are trying our best to make aware," he states.

Residents too are happy. Forty-year-old Sitara Devi agrees with Sharma as she talks about the massive turnaround "saaf paani" has done to her health. The woman who could not walk for a few metres because of joint pain, now claims to be "sprinting" since she started drinking this water.

Sharma, who is listening to this conversation, however, feels that there is still a long way to go. "We have a population of around 10,000. The day I am able to bring in filtered water in every house will I feel to have accomplished something," he says.