Local solutions for local water challenges

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Local solutions for local water challenges

In addition to the funding given to Earthwatch, WaterAid and WWF, the HSBC Water Programme donates to charities which manage small local water projects. HSBC employees can apply for funding for charities to set up projects in their local area. By the end of 2013, 33 projects had been initiated in 19 countries including Sri Lanka, Malta, India, the UK and Brazil.

Restoring health in Bangalore

One such project is in the Madhurgiri District of Bangalore in India, where employees in HSBC's Global Banking and Markets business received funding to reduce the consumption of polluted groundwater. In this district, the only water source from deep wells contains high levels of fluoride, which can lead to fluorosis - a condition that causes severe tooth decay, bone deformities and debilitating joint problems. Working with a local charity, the BAIF Development Research Foundation, the three-year project will improve water quality in six villages by harvesting rainwater.

Local families will be helped to construct 1,000 rain collecting and filtering tanks. Each tank has the capacity to supply clean water to an average household for one year. Global Banking and Markets employees have the opportunity to conduct research, run awareness campaigns and help with project management. In the first year of the project, 190 rainwater structures have been constructed and, as local people now understand the link between their health problems and the groundwater, more of them want to be involved, supporting the long-term sustainability of the project.

"This is a real transformation in the lives of local people."

As Girish Ghanashyam Sohani, President and Managing Trustee, BAIF Development Research Foundation explains, "The provision of safe water has had a very positive impact on health conditions and health expenditure. This is a real transformation in the lives of local people."

Helping Sri Lankan families return home

Local project funding has helped to tackle different water issues in a war-torn region of Sri Lanka, where the ‘Water Is Life' project has renovated 154 wells, providing fresh water for 600 villagers who can now return home.

The civil war in Sri Lanka lasted over two decades, affecting huge areas of the county. Conditions in the northern province of Jaffna were particularly difficult and, across the region, thousands of families were forced to flee the devastation, leaving their ancestral homes behind. Despite hostilities ending in 2009, normal life could not return until the region was made safe of landmines and vital water resources re-established.

A team from Global Banking and Markets in Columbo applied for local funding and worked with a local NGO, YGRO, and the Sri Lankan government to restore and repair over 150 water wells. Not only did the team provide funding, they project managed the restoration and communicated with the villagers about progress on the project.

Multhuligam Rasammah is head of one of the households benefiting from the project, she said; "When we returned the entire area was filled with shrubs, it was overgrown and was more like a jungle. We found it very difficult to even figure out where our well was - we had to go almost 300m through paddy fields to obtain the water we need." Today her family are able to use water from their restored well for cooking, baking, washing and looking after livestock.

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