Dear Friends,

This month, we shall discuss in brief, the history of Sustainable Development, starting with the publication of the book, Silent Springs, the first UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972, followed-up by setting up of the Brundtland Commission, 10 years later by the United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in December 1983. We shall provide you with the principal milestones in this history as a ‘Timeline for Sustainable Development’.

Door-to-door awareness campaign:

Two door-to-door awareness campaigns were conducted in the Municipality viz. Sallimalai - Ward no: 15 (8^th May) and Kalavai Street – Ward no: 20 (16^th May). A total of 181 households were sensitized on MSWM through these programmes.

Prelude

Hara is one of the many names of Shiva, one of the principal deities in Hinduism and the supreme deity in Shaivism. As Hara, Shiva is “the one who destroys evil.” On its own, Hara is a Sanskrit word that means “removing,” “taking away” and “destroyer.” Hara, represents the purifying power and paves the way for new creation and redemption on both the universal and personal levels. Hara destroys ignorance, illusion and evil, all imperfections that must be removed by one and all to continue one’s inner transformation and spiritual growth along the path to enlightenment.

Karuna Trust, established in the year 1986 is located at Biligiri Rangana Hills in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. Its vision is for a society in which institution strives to provide an equitable and integrated model of health, education and livelihoods by empowering marginalized people to be self-reliant. The Trust aims to reach out to those who are poor in the remote and inaccessible areas, hilly and tribal regions, Naxalite and insurgency areas with poor roads, no phone and electrical connectivity.

Karuna Trust has pioneered and implemented a successful Public-Private-Partnership model that helps leverage the government’s significant investment in public health care infrastructure by complementing it with a socially committed, not-for-profit but professionally competent management team. With a prime objective of ‘Reaching the Unreached’ to provide health care to the underserved and the poor in the remote areas, Karuna Trust continues to serve the community it has been serving with renewed vigor and dedication.

Teertha Pooja - Jata Teertham (Traditional water body)

Teertha Pooja was organized by the local community at Jata Teertham. Ms.Sarah from England and Smt.Jayshree Balachander participated in the Pooja. Around 25 villagers including kids gathered at the Teertham and were singing devotional songs about lord Shiva in the temple. Simultaneously women were also cooking Sweet Pongal (Rice) to be offered to the God. Then everybody gathered around the Teertham for prayers. Shri.Pakshi Sivarajan, Priest from Rameswaram guided the gathering on Teertha Pooja. He was chanting mantras and the gathering were repeating the same. After the completion of the Teertha Pooja, people offered flowers to the Teertham and sprinkled the Holy water on their heads.