Mangaluru: The Anti-Pollution Drive Foundation (APDF) recently handed over free toilets to nine BPL families in Kadeshwalya gram panchayat in Bantwal taluk. The toilets were handed over at a ceremony in the presence of gram panchayat president Bharathi S Rao, vice-president Suresh Kannottu, panchayat development officer Sunil Kumar, and Geetha Surya, project coordinator of APD Foundation, along with the beneficiaries at the gram panchayat recently.
Two additional toilets are under construction and will be completed soon, said Abdullah A Rehman, founder and CEO of APDF. Each toilet, costing nearly Rs 50,000, was built under APDF's Prati Manege Sauchalaya (PRMS) project, which aims to provide sanitation facilities to 100 BPL families in Dakshina Kannada, by the end of the current financial year.
The APDF secured Rs 10 lakh in corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding from Alkraft Thermotechnologies Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, and the Dr PA Ibrahim Foundation, Kozhikode, after Kadeshwalya gram panchayat requested help in Feb for 11 families lacking sufficient funds, he said.
The PRMS project, launched on March 12, 2019, has already provided free toilets to 11 families. With the current phase adding 11 more, APDF completed 22 toilets, he said. "Although Dakshina Kannada is officially an open defecation free (ODF) district, several small pockets still lack proper sanitation. APDF is working closely with gram panchayats to address these gaps. Toilets are essential for every family, promoting dignity and hygiene, especially for women and children," Abdullah added.