Creating a cleaner, greener India

Adar Poonawalla Clean City Initiative

Inspired by Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi’s ‘Swacch Bharat Mission’, Mr. Adar Poonawalla and the Serum Institute of India launched the Adar Poonawalla Clean City Initiative (APCCI) in 2015 to build a cleaner, greener, and healthier India and reform the country’s global image.

The Villoo Poonwalla Foundation actively supports the Adar Poonawalla Clean City Initiative to create cleaner environments with advanced sanitation. The initiative’s mission is to make Pune a clean city with the help of volunteers and state-of-the-art technology, and reach more cities eventually.

APCCI carries out litter picking from footpaths, clearing chronic waste dumping spots, strategically installing litter bins at busy locations, and repairing potholes across the city. So far, the initiative has gained massive recognition with support from the government, local citizens, resident welfare associations, NGOs, and civic officials.

In terms of numbers, the program has 311 machines and more than 600 team members to cover more than 800 km of roads in Pune and some parts of Mumbai. Additionally, APPCI and the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation’s efforts have also made drinking water accessible to over 6,000 families in the rural areas of Pune.

Clean Water Supply project

To make clean water a fundamental right, in 2017, we built a project to serve the eastern part of Pune and encompassing areas like Manjari, Phursungi, Loni, Theur, and beyond. The design was based on the pioneering ‘Hub and Spoke’ model to ensure that even the remotest areas could have access to clean water.

A network of state-of-the-art RO+UV+UF water purification units acts as ‘Hubs’ in the design. The units treat and store clean water, which is further distributed via a series of strategically placed Water ATMs, aka ‘Spokes’, across the region.

The Water ATMs are solar-powered and IoT-enabled, dispensing up to 20 litres of clean water per household every day with an RFID-tagged system. This approach guarantees the consistent availability of safe drinking water.

With 85 Water ATMs distributing drinking water to more than 8,000 Water ATM cards, today, the Clean Water Supply project dispenses up to 140,000 litres of filtered water daily. The Villoo Poonawalla Foundation supports the Clean Water Supply project and takes active efforts to expand the initiative’s reach and impact, ensuring everyone has access to safe and clean drinking water.