Cyclone Fani survivors in Odisha given water storage, sanitation facilities

PwC India Foundation, an organisation working in the field of environment and sanitation, in association with Gram Vikas on Tuesday handed over water storage systems and refurbished sanitation facilities to around 300 families of Daruthenga area in Khurda district, which was severely hit by Cyclone Fani last year.

These facilities were reconstructed by the community members themselves under the guidance of Gram Vikas, a non governmental organisation, and were inaugurated by Suresh Kumar Routray, MLA from Jatni in the presence of Shyamal Mukherjee, Chairman of PwC India Foundation.

This project, undertaken in three villages under Daruthenga gram panchayat, is part of Foundations efforts to provide support to disadvantaged communities in times of natural disasters.

As a part of the intervention, apart from providing safe drinking water, masonry training camps were also organised to help participants, 60 per cent of whom were women, find sustainable livelihood opportunities.

"Through this project, our two-fold objectives are to provide safe drinking water, which is one of the most basic human needs - and to help create secure, sustainable livelihoods for the people of the three villages," Shyamal Mukherjee, Chairman of PwC India said.

"As part of our Corporate Responsibility initiatives, our aim is to identify the communities that are most in need, provide timely relief and make a difference to them in a meaningful way, providing what they need the most," he said.

Ever since its inception, PwC India Foundation has been committed to provide relief and rehabilitation support in times of natural calamities, looking at innovative ways to address them, providing immediate relief and restoration to those affected and supporting the local authorities.

It also undertakes pro bono advisory projects to understand the on ground challenges and devising disaster mitigation strategies. So far, PwC has reached out to 13 regions in the sub-continent, a foundation statement said.

Liby Johnson, Executive Director of Gram Viks, said, "Our aim was to reach out to the rural  communities in the periphery of Bhubaneswar City affected by Cyclone Fani. The support from PwC India Foundation was timely and enabled us to rebuild the best possible infrastructure and rehabilitate communities, schools and anganwadis.