S.W.A.S.H.

Poor water quality in Janauri

Plastic bags, wrappers, cans, batteries, coke bottles. One would hope you would find these items stashed away in a green recycle bin on a street corner. But in Punjab, and the village of Janauri specifically, this is sadly not the case. Batteries lie in river basins, plastic bags clog gutters, and broken glass litters cricket playing fields. Even worse, some of these items are even set ablaze as a means of the eradicating waste, polluting the surrounding air, water, and soil. It is a short-term solution with drastic costs. 

This is why the S.W.A.S.H. project (Sanitation of Water, Air, and Soil for Healthy Villages) was founded in Janauri. The S.W.A.S.H. project is addressing waste disposal challenges at the village level to tackle issues such as toxins in the air, water, and soil from burning waste, poor/undrinkable water quality, and general mismanagement of waste. Janauri is a particularly important location as much of the polluted water that passes through the village continues westward into the irrigational system of the lowland farming districts.

Problem and solution (waste in the background, bag in the foreground)

Thus far, S.W.A.S.H. has implemented a recyclable waste management system to discourage the community from burning their waste and littering water basins. Currently, twelve bags are located in central Janauri, including near shop fronts, high pedestrian traffic areas, and in two schools. The community has shown much support for this initiative, including some members already taking the initiative to assemble more recycling bags to meet the current demand. S.W.A.S.H. is also committed to using nearly all re-usable materials for the assembly of recycle bags. This includes old cement bags serving as recycle bags, and everything from plastic lining to old electrical wires as rope.

Community support

The recycling initiative in Janauri experienced initial success and is currently at a consistent level of waste disposal and collection. In the next month, S.W.A.S.H. is planning to expand the recycling program to the temple district of Janauri. It has been our constant goal to see that our motto, “Clean Janauri, Beautiful Janauri”, is being realized through the empowerment of the community.