She gets up early in the morning to distribute cement bowls at various places in the city. The bowls have a provision to store five litres of water.
Moved by the plight of stray animals and birds during summer, Durga Sura, an NRI from Canada, has come forward to spend her three-month vacation in the city, where her parents reside, by distributing the bowls, visiting schools to sensitise them on the need to take care of stray animals.
Future plan
“I am an animal and nature lover. I have so far distributed 80 water bowls naming it as Kittu Animal Welfare Water Bowl. I had taken up similar activity in Chennai earlier. In future, I want to float an NGO to spare my free time along with my like-minded friends,” she told The Hindu.
After graduating in engineering, Ms. Durga did MBA from Warwick Business School, the U.K. She had a stint at TCS for a few years after which she started business in Canada under the name ‘PourGreen’, which aims at providing eco-friendly plastic alternatives to save marine life. Her family members are active participants in animal welfare and take care of three stray dogs at their home.
“We are all aware that hundreds of stray animals, as well as birds, die due to scorching heat and lack of access to clean drinking water,” she pointed out.
Ms. Durga initiated the bowl project in Visakhapatnam sometime ago. The bowls are placed near the curry points and juice shops, which are frequented by stray animals in search of leftover stuff.
Creating awareness
“We are trying to motivate the street vendors and kiosks to provide place for the water bowls near their premises. We are educating and encouraging the people to fill water in them to help these innocent creatures to survive,” she stated.
Animal lovers in the city have also started liking the bowls and placing them in their respective areas. The bowls can be seen in the areas such as Autonagar, Vadlapudi, Green City, Rajiv Nagar (Kurmanpalem), Madhurwada, Yendada, Duvvada and RTC Complex, Asilametta.
Ms. Durga and her well-wishers want to provide bowls throughout the city in the near future.
Apart from this, they also regularly feed stray animals and provide timely medical treatment whenever required.