With 800 households, Megwarh is a small village near Umerkot Sindh, birth place of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar. Coca-Cola has set up a filtration plant in the village with a maximum capacity of disbursing 1000 liters per hour. The solar-powered pump uses ultrafiltration system to clean water which women of this community earlier fetched from another pump which is five kilometers away.
To ensure sustainability, the new plant has been installed with Solar, GPS system and flowmeters. A team of Coca-Cola Pakistan visited Umerkot, spent a day with the community, and learnt about its rich culture and the challenges it faces with utmost resilience. Megwarh is also the village of Marvi, who rose to fame after she featured in Coke Studio Season’s 15’s song, Aayi Aayi.
Speaking about the experience, Aisha Sarwari, Senior Director Public Affairs said, “By coming to Marvi’s village we are commemorating her love for her land, and her people. But it is not easy to have a folklore without water. Pakistani women struggle with access to clean drinking water nationwide, especially in arid areas. Their children often fall sick to gastrointestinal diseases. This here is us adding a very tiny drop to sustainably solving an ocean of an issue.”
Speaking about the experience of hosting the Coca-Cola team at her village, Chand Kumari, a mother of three said, “My feet used to hurt carrying water-filled pitchers and walking for hours under harsh sun. I am happy that I got to meet the people who have brought this source of clean drinking water closer to our homes.”
At the heart of Coca-Cola’s #WaterForWomen Program lies the belief that when women thrive, communities prosper. So far, the umbrella, Paani Project has served about 17 million to date across 53 plants across the nation.
The team also planted tree saplings around the pump at Megwarh that shall provide shade for women who come to collect water.