Nearly 4 million people in India are affected by water-borne diseases every year. As many as 400,000 children die from diarrhea every year. According to a 2007 United Nations report, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients who suffer from water-borne diseases.
In India, such diseases cause more than 1.5 times the deaths caused by AIDS and double the deaths caused by road accidents.
These are depressing numbers indeed. But they also suggest a need gap -- water purifiers. So far, water purifiers have been used in middle and upper class homes, though water-borne diseases affect all income classes.
The cost of water purifiers -- acquisition as well as maintenance -- has been too steep for poor households. But that could change now. The Tata Group has launched what could be the world's cheapest water purifier at price points of Rs 749 and Rs 999.
The genesis of Swach -- 'clean' in Hindi -- began nearly a decade ago as a corporate social responsibility initiative of Tata Consultancy Services , India's largest information technology company.
Between 2000 and 2003, the company launched a water filter called Sujal and distributed it among several NGOs (non-government organisations). When the tsunami ravaged parts of coastal south India in 2004, these water filters were distributed in the affected regions.
Source: http://business.rediff.com/special/2009/dec/22/spec-what-tata-plans-to-do-with-rs-749-water-filters.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment