Konchur, a little known village in Chittapur taluk of Kalaburagi district, infamous for lack of basic civic amenities, is getting help from a distant land — Singapore.
BillionBricks, a non-profit social enterprise, headquartered in Singapore, has brought hope to the residents of the town. They will get better roads, drainage system and safe drinking water. Less than 3 per cent of the 350 households here have access to sanitation.
The village has limited livelihood options and almost all the educated youths from the village are jobless. Lack of water has limited agriculture to just four or five months in a year and in the remaining months, the agricultural labourers either migrate to bigger cities or work in stone quarries.
BillionBricks has, on a pilot basis, agreed to take up the construction of a common toilet for the women of the village, with an innovative and cost-effective sewage treatment plant attached to the common toilet on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis.
Chittapur MLA Priyank Kharge said that 50 per cent cost of the project with water facility will come from the MLA Local Area Development Fund. “They will later take up the creation of other infrastructure projects, including the establishment of a dairy and other sources of income,” said Mr. Kharge.
The NGO has constructed housing and other infrastructure projects in Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bali, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kerala.
