We believe that access to drinking water is a fundamental human right and our goal is to ensure every household in our geography gets potable drinking water up to 200 litres per day. We bring water from the source to storage reservoir and from there into each household through a robust distribution grid in every water project.

Our team of water engineers and field staff is equipped for conducting overall geophysical and technical surveys while the community does voluntary labor with us to ensure water reaches their homes. Furthermore, for making this water projects sustainable we identify water committees who are representatives of the community and train them extensively for operations and maintenance of their hamlet’s water project.

Just like access to water is of prime importance, having a household toilet is critical to the development of rural areas. Our goal is to ensure every individual from a rural family has access to a toilet in his household and uses it every day. In cases where there are space constraints in a household premise, not more than two households will share a single toilet. For sustainability and behavior change we organize various street plays, community-led total sanitation programme, swachhta raths, rallies and other modes to engage with the community and ensure an open defecation free geography.

Cultivation of second and third crop in a year leads to good income augmentation of farmers and empowers them to come out of poverty, restricts migration and improves their standard of living. For year-long agricultural cultivation, regular supply of irrigation is a must. We have identified small tributaries in our six blocks, where we build check dams to conserve millions of litres of water. This water is supplied to the farms through drip or flood irrigation thus making acres and acres of land cultivable and beneficial for farmers in the geography.

Every school with 20 and more students will have access to clean toilets and drinking water at all times is our goal. To achieve this, we do screening and repairs of existing urinals and stand posts in schools and those that are devoid of any water and sanitation facility are facilitated with new structures with a clear focus on building separate toilets for boys and girls.

Solar for homes, schools/Anganwadi, streets and water schemes

The solar program at Swades Foundation illuminates homes, schools /Anganwadi and streets in villages restoring security and safety for underserved communities.
The home solar project involves the distribution of off-grid solar home lighting kits, inclusive of a control box, 2 LED tubes, 1 LED bulb, and 1 Solar Panel to homes. Each solar kit comes with an inbuilt mobile charging port with a product life of 20-25 years and battery life of 5-6 years and a warranty for 2 years.

The School/Anganwadi solar project involves setting up and operating off-grid solar panels, including solar modules, batteries, charge controllers, and cables.
These systems power fans, lights, and computers during school hours to create an effective learning environment.

Similarly, the street solar program lights up public streets in villages restoring a sense of safety in areas threatened by wildlife such as snakes, scorpions, and in extreme cases leopards.

Additionally, some drip irrigation projects and drinking water schemes are also powered by solar energy. By switching to solar energy for facilitating water supply to homes and farms, Swades generates < 1,800 KWP solar power/day – reducing 306 MT carbon emission annually.

Impact

• Solar for School: 93
• Solar for Anganwadi: 54
• Solar PV Installers: 39
• VDC Solar Lights: 416
• Household solar lights: 374
• Solar for Street Light: 2226
• Solar for Home: 13064
• Solar Lamp for VDC: 145