Over 70 BMC workers have already benefitted at the Khar Central Chowki.
For 34-year-old Lakhan Thadani, a contract worker who sweeps Mumbai roads, the biggest challenge daily is to find clean drinking water while on the job. But now that's one problem less to worry about, after 16 year old Siddharth Runwal set up a water purifier at the civic body BMC outpost where Lakhan works.
"This purified water is good to drink. Whereas, the water we drink while we are out at work, the municipality water, is not filtered and hence sometimes contaminated," said Lakhan Thadani.
In an attempt to make a difference this Diwali, Siddharth Runwal, an 11th standard student, has bought nine water purifiers to be set up at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC outposts in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz areas.
Over 70 BMC workers have already benefitted from Siddharth's initiative at the Khar Central Chowki, which is the first BMC outpost where water purifier has been installed. The others will be set up by November end.
"In Bandra, Khar and Santacruz there are nine stations in total and in these nine stations, there are 1200 workers who come day in and day out to wash their hands and drink water. I realized that if I install just these nine filters, I am impacting 1200 people's lives," said Siddharth Runwal.
With the help of several NGOs and individuals, Siddharth raised Rs 60,000 for his initiative, one that has benefitted even the BMC.
"I installed a water purifier in my station but in order to install it on other nine stations I need to take administrative permissions. But it will definitely be helpful for the corporation," said Chandrakant Tambe, the Engineer Overseer - Solid Waste Management at the Khar Central Chowki.