Drinking Water

“Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in our organization.”

Of the underground water in the villages of Braj Mandal, most is salty hard water, unfit for drinking. FFLV’s Water for Life project has financed the boring of sweet water wells & overhead tanks at 11 villages: Sunrakh, Ramtal, Javat, Junai, Tehra, Nagla Bihari, Bhartia, Barhi Atas, Parsoli, Bharatiya, & Madhuvan Maholi; as well as 6 borings along the Vrindavana Parikrama Marg. Several more Hand Pumps have been installed at needy villages. We also use a massive filter in our Sandipani Muni School which brings the harmful TDS (total dissolved solids) in the water down from 2,200 to only 85!!

Thanks to our donors

The Junay village sweet water project has been made possible only by the dedicated effort of the late Raojibhai C. Patel before passing away from this world.

His relatives, Padmavati dd, Mukesh Patel, Bhupendrabhai C. Patel and the late Vinubhai C. Patel contributed generously under his sincere request.

The Sundrakh, Tehra and Nagla Bihari village sweet water projects have been sponsored by the Jani Family, from Kenya and the UK.

“The most precious liquid”

_• In September 2005, Food for Life Vrindavan inaugurated a water project in Bharatiya village with a population of 3,000. The project was sponsored by a special devotee from UK.

_• In January 2006, Burja water project was also completed. This facility supplies drinking water to our Sandipani Muni primary and secondary schools. It also serves the FFLV kitchen as well as supplying water to the local community. Special thanks to Batra Family, UK

_• In Madhuvan Maholi, Mathura, two schools with more than 1,200 children have been supplied with drinking water. Special thanks to a wonderful devotee from UK.

_• One more boring has been done on the parikrama marg, the water supplies two colonies in Vrindavan; Santo and Madhuvan. The project has been completed in cooperation with the local Municipality.

_• Two hand pumps have been placed in Gonda Atas and Jat village.

Fuel-efficient cookers

Steam cookers are the newest additions to the kitchen facilities at Sandipani Muni school. These steam cookers consume much less drinking water and energy and keep the nutrients sealed in. Our thanks for this go to:

Amal Bhakta das (USA).

Safe drinking water for SMS students

A new reverse osmosis plant now provides safe drinking water for all the children. The international accepted standard of water TDS (total dissolved solids) is 50, tap water in our school has a 2,200 TDS! This is the common water that everyone uses in Vrindavan. Water from our filtration system comes out at 55 TDS. The system was made possible by the kindness of the Jani Family (UK-Kenya).

A Civic Leader Gives Water for Life Praise

“Javat had no clean drinking water for the past five decades. In this area, the water is so salty that we cannot even give it to the animals, so women had to walk 2 to 3 kilometres to fetch water from a muddy hole.

“It was a miserable situation, and due to the contaminated water, people were always becoming sick.

“Food For Life consulted with the village Panchayat (governing board) and elders about how to help us. They were able to locate sweet water two kilometres from the village, constructed a pump-house with agenerator, and laid pipes to water storage tanks and three water supply outlets in the village.

“Food For Life also fenced in and built iron gates for 4 schools in our village. They planted 1,500 trees, which has made the atmosphere very pleasant. They also regularly distribute free meals to the school children and every Sunday the Food for Life medical team comes and treats people and gives them free medicine. These are great services to our village, and thousands of people here have benefited.

“Because we now have pure water our villagers are healthy.

“We are ever grateful and thankful to Food for Life Vrindavan for all their services and we hope they will continue with their work.

We are ready to cooperate with Food for Life and help in any way.”

- Yours sincerely, G.S. Pachauri (Civic leader and village resident)