“It has been 77 years since I came into this village. Since as far back as I can remember our village roadsides and nearby households are used as dump yards. Our people had no awareness about waste handling and our local governing body struggled to collect and clean the roadside waste. Due to this poor handling and stagnation of waste even on the drainage path, many vector-borne diseases would spread among the community.

Recently, in the last 2 to 3 years, Isha ventured to implement the Solid Waste Management program in our village.

These people have taken up sanitary work in Semmedu and are doing it in a very systematic and committed manner. Our village roadsides and nearby households have become hygienic and safe. There is no stagnation in the drainage anymore, due to which there has been a significant reduction in the vector-borne diseases. For the first time in my life I can now say that our village is clean.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Isha for this sanitation program.”

– Neelakanda Iyer (77 years, Semmedu village)