Photo Caption: From left: Kousalaya (beneficiary), IndhuPriya (Social worker), Harish (Station head, BIG FM), Suresh (State head,Cera Sanitary ware) and Karun (MJ from BIG FM)
CONSTRUCTION OF 33 TOILETS COMPLETED IN TIRUVALLUR DISTRICT
Chennai, 23rd April, 2018: Thalayaripalayam, a village which lacked basic sanitation facility will now witness an open defecation free environment with the construction of toilets, an initiative taken by 92.7 BIG FM Chennai. The project to build 100 toilets in and around the district of Tiruvallur was initiated on World Toilet Day (19th November) in association with Poorvika Mobiles and CERA Sanitaryware.
Globally, today, 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes off their waste. The lack of hygiene has led to the occurrence of diseases and even deaths resulting from such illnesses.
As part of phase one, BIG MJ Karun along with the BIG FM Chennai team inaugurated 33 toilets in the said region paving way for a clean and free environment.
Speaking on the state of the village before the project was initiated, BIG MJ Karun of 92.7 BIG FM Chennai, who spearheaded the campaign said, “The whole village consisting of more than 350 people had only one toilet which created lot of difficulties particularly for women in the community as they had to wake up at 3 am and go in the dark for open defecation. Through this project, we identified communities and schools that required basic sanitation facilities in order to improve health and enrolment in schools.”
Indhupriya, Founder, Danirasa Foundation, one of the supporters of this campaign said, “Cleanliness in the community is just as important as cleanliness for the individuals. Sanitation means public cleanliness – using safe toilets. In the villages, necessity of toilet is very important (health and safe disposal).The village which we had chosen had never used toilets in their life time near Gummidipundi (Thalayaripalayam). Women and kids expressed their happiness after completion of the project. Hereafter, there is no compulsion for them to defecate only in the dark”.
“We were really surprised and shocked to know that a village which is near to Chennai City has no toilet facility… It took me a minute to come out of that shock… So we as a citizen have to contribute to this society, hence we accepted this proposal from 92.7 BIG FM Chennai. Seeing happiness on the faces of these people gives us true happiness. We are all content that we have done a good job”, said Mr. Suresh, State Head, CERA Sanitaryware .
Mr. Shiva, Marketing Head, Poorvika Mobiles said, “We all think that village is something which is near tier one and tier two cities but here in Chennai, just an hour’s travel from the city, we have a village with no toilet facility. When 92.7 BIG FM Chennai approached us, it was a shock for us initially. Now, it is heartwarming to see happiness on the faces of these people”.
After the successful completion of phase one, the second phase with 40 toilets is under construction and will soon be launched in Tiruvallur district.
