Ranchi/Dhanbad: Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power utility won two awards at the ‘7th ACEF Asian Leadership Awards’ for its impactful work in the areas ofEnvironmental conservation and Public sanitation. The company won the Gold and Silver for its work in the conservation of Mahseer fish under the ‘Best Sustainable Green Initiative’ and its campaign to end open defecation in Jamshedpur under the ‘Best Corporate Community Partnership’ sub-categories respectively.
Over the last four decades, Tata Power is renowned for having successfully bred the Mahseer fish in captivity by working closely with Government agencies and fisheries institutes for responsible re-introductions of the species in the wild. The breeding facility at Walwhan, Lonavala, maintained by the company is open to scientists and students for research and training purposes, thereby, helping build capacities in this specialized field. Tata Power’s Mahseer Conservation Program has served as an important vehicle for improving the livelihood of local community, particularly women who are seeking a sustainable source of income outside mainstream vocations in the region.
The local community in Jojobera, near Jamshedpur, where the company operates a 550 MW thermal power plant was provided with 8,486 toilets and repaired around 1,200 toilets in the region benefitting nearly 45,000 people directly. Tata Power’s initiative to make Jojobera open defecation free (ODF) can be attributed to the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) initiative which includes skilling masons, ensuring social inclusion by making members of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) major beneficiaries, using fly ash bricks in building toilets, creating new youth entrepreneurs from the SC/ST communities by providing brick making machines and pushing for greater participation of school girls to reverse earlier trends of high drop-outs due to sanitary and safety challenges.