Wells program

In 2014, a prolonged drought caused immense hardship to families that had been resettled in the Wanni area. Even though these families had been given pieces of land ranging from 20 perches to 2 acres in size, very little provision was made for providing them with drinking water. This scarcity of water had been a major obstacle in resettling the displaced, both in terms of household needs as well as for cultivation.

Having realized that the provision of sufficient water would go a long way in alleviating poverty and hunger, Oru Paanai, in conjunction with Well Being, another charity led by Mr. Bala Gnapragasam, undertook a pilot project to construct 10 wells in the Wanni at a cost of £10,000. Funds for this pilot were raised by the joint efforts of Oru Paanai  and Well Being. The project was launched at a meeting of the North London Clinical Society, where great enthusiasm was generated with pledges being made on the day. This was followed by a fund raising dinner in the home of Ami and Paul David. In all, a sum of £20,000 was raised, of which £10,000 was spent on the pilot project.

In the pilot project, 27 wells were constructed, of which 6 were bore hole tube wells, while the rest were conventional dug wells.These wells were constructed in Pallai, Anaivilunthan, Krishnapuram, Mallavi and Puthukudiyiruppu.

Although the initial plan was to build 1,000 wells, the expected funds from the GoSL and other sources did not materialize, and our plans had to be scaled down. Oru Paanai has decided to continue the Wells project albeit on a reduced scale. Each year, we plan to construct 2 - 30 wells at a cost of 400,000 rupees per well.

The provision of water from these wells has transformed the lives of the families living in the Wanni. Most of the families – nearly 80,000 – engage in home farming - veettu thottam - to provide for their families as well being a source of income to them. Thus, your support would help people to become self-sufficient, instead of remaining supplicants dependant on the largesse of the public and the government for ever.

Following an appeal made at a fund raiser in London, 10 more donors came forward to meet the cost of building 10 more wells. We are most grateful to them for their support.

We would welcome more donations from you. You can donate the entire cost of a well - £1,000 – or make a part contribution. The more money we receive, the more wells we can build and the more people we can help.

You can donate by sending a cheque made to  Oru Paanai  Events at the address 58, Hungerford Road, Stourbridge, DY8 3AB. If you wish to donate by bank transfer, the bank details are Barclays Bank, sort code 20 82 70 and he account number is 53279685. Please find out more details here.

Thank you so much for your help.