Tamil Nadu is the South Indian state that has been hardest hit by the tsunami. Human lives and live stock has been destroyed in big numbers. Salt water has been intruding into the agricultural land, shallow aquifers have been affected by sea water which has implication on both health and water use in agriculture.
The Project will enhance the livelihood for the community members who are living nearby the coast by providing safe drinking water through a fuel efficient tool called ROPE PUMP.
Project will be working in Parengeppati block of Cuddalore district, where HPPI has establish its ECO Information centre and working closely with the community.

The concept of Rope Pump
The basic elements of the Rope pump are an endless rope with conical shaped pistons at every meter, a wheel and pipes in a borehole. The rope with the pistons is lifted with the wheel. In this way water is lifted between the pistons to the surface. It’s easy to operate and maintain and it is an energy efficient device.
It is low cost, made of locally available material and easy to maintain.

The important features of Rope Pump
Features of the Rope Pump

? Water can be lifted from depths of 1 to 65 Meters (200 Ft).
? The rotating movement avoids dynamic forces, a problem in traditional deep well piston pumps, thus making it very easy to pump up water.
? All parts of the pump can be produced with local skills and materials.
? Repairs can easily be done by users or local caretakers.
?

? It is affordable – in India a Rope Pump cost around Rs 3000/-. The total cost of one pump and bore well of 15 m is around Rs 7,500/-.
? Because of its low cost and simple design this technology has proved to be very sustainable.
Evaluations have shown that if the pumps are introduced properly, over 90 % are working, even 10 years after installation.

The Strategy of Implementation

YES The proposed proposal is for six months.

Formation and training of Village Development Committees (VDC)
For the overall success and sustainability, the project will form a Village Development Committee in each of the implementation villages. The VDC’s will consist of at least 11 members drawn from every section of the community, so as to represent every strata of the village at equal level.

The foremost task of the Village Development Committee is to mobilize people in the community to take part in the project activities. They will participate in the mobilization, home visits and meetings with the community, where they will hold educative sessions on the installation and repairing of Rope pump, and they will identify and select the sites where the Rope pumps will be installed.

The Village Development Committee members will consist of:
1 - Village head (Pradhan)
2- Two school Teachers (one male and on female)
3- Two women
4- Two village elderly, who have influence in the community.
5- Three youth (two females and one male)
6- One primary health centre official.

It will be the responsibility of the Village Development Committee to follow up on the maintenance of the rope pump after the installation. The project staff will work closely together with the Committee members during the entire project life to ensure a thorough training of the Committee members and secure effective function of the Committee.

Program is connected with the Community members and project have plans to link the activity to stakeholders like panchayat raj institutions ,CBO'S and block level officers.

The project will enhance the skills of community members on production, installation and maintainance of rope pump.It will also promote kitchen garden and treating of waste water around the water source.

The project will reduce health hazards specially in women and children.
It will also save time
Protect environment
improve productivity of women
regularty of school children in the schools.