Helping with hygiene

Udvada’s Clean and Green Charitable Trust (CGCT) has extended its scope to "diligently oversee” the maintenance of public toilets built for the Mangelas (a community of fisherfolk) adjoining the beach next to their homes. "This commitment ensures the holistic wellbeing of the community,” CGCT trustee Filly Bapuna told Parsiana on November 27, 2023. Till now maintained by the Mangelas themselves, Bapuna stated that the Trust started off with "a modest expenditure of Rs 7,200 for fixing taps for the toilets in November. "As we continue our commitment to uplift our society… this is part of our commitment towards the village of Udvada,” he stated.

The toilets were constructed with funding from the Tata Trusts in 2019. Udvada resident Jamshed Dastoor was the moving spirit for getting funds through the Trusts, said Bapuna.

Previously built toilets that will now be maintained

by Clean and Green Charitable Trust

The Trust has been working with the gram panchayat to create environmental consciousness among the villagers (see "A collaborative clean-up,” Parsiana, June 21-July 6, 2022). Earlier this year, they provided benches along the sea front (see "Comfort on the beach,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, June 7-20, 2023). Bapuna said the Trust requests corpus donations to sustain them in the long run. They give Rs 9,00,000 annually to a private contractor to clean the village.