Amtoli. A village situated in one corner of the Gosaba Block at Sundarban. A remote settlement where facilities are severely restricted. In this village ,over 300 children study in the Amritanagar High School . In order to promote sustainable livelihood in this village a slew of eco friendly initiatives were launched in this school by United India Insurance Co (UIIC )in partnership with Nature Environment & Wildlife Society( NEWS ). This included a Rain Water Harvesting unit that was established in the school with the capacity for storing 6000cu cm of water in rooftop tanks. A pond with a capacity of holding 24000 cu ft of water was renovated along with its ghat in the adjacent area. The stored rainwater was effectively used by the students for washing & cleaning purposes, gardening and in wash rooms. This also ensured that less quantity of groundwater was extracted .
4 kw capacity solar panels were installed that provides lights to 4 nos classrooms, dining hall. Also 2 nos light points were installed on the walls outside the class rooms and lights helped illuminate the road adjacent to the school building.
A 1500 sqft kitchen garden was set up along with vermi pits for the supply of 160 kgs of vermi compost for the garden. The organic produce from the garden is used as midday meals served to the students. This ensures a healthy diet and also helps reduce costs.
An Eco Club has been established in the school that helps oversee the initiatives. It also has a basic collection of books related to the environment and basic facilities to help conduct research and experiments on ecology and wildlife.
The above initiatives can make this an eco friendly model school in Sundarban. UIIC has been taking the leading role in this multi faceted NEWS initiative.
On January 13, 2020, Ms Sushmita Mukherjee, General Manager, UIIC and Mr Debashish Purkait, Dy General Manager, UIIC visited the site at Amtoli. They held a detailed discussion with the Head Master of the school and the Secretary, NEWS, regarding the scope and nature of the ongoing work. In the presence of the Panchayet Pradhan and members of the local Panchayet, 1818 members from the local community were brought under the Accident Insurance Policy and certificates issues to them.
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