* Sathya (truth) Dharma (righteousness) Santhi (peace) Prema

162
The captivating view from the 
corridors of knowledge-power, 
showing the entrance dome on the 
left and the central courtyard on the 
right.
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164

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Top left:
 A breathtaking view of the college from the 
terrace showing the corridors and staircase.   
Top right:
 A view of the library with a mezzanine floor 
for book shelves.

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166
Different views of University 
College Campus.

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168
Water For All...
To quench the thirst 
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170
Anantapur District 
For millions in Rayalaseema and Telengana Regions 
of Andhra Pradesh, getting pure drinking water 
was a daily drudgery. It meant trudging long 
distance, often in vain. Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust 
decided that the villagers should never again trek 
for something which ought to be on their taps and 
proposed the Sri Sathya Sai Water Supply Projects 
covering more than 1000 villages in Anantapur, 
Medak and Mahabubnagar districts and providing 
water to more than two million people who had 
lived all their lives on the edge of drought and 
despair.
This was a dream turned into reality, as safe 
drinking water flowed into the parched districts of 
Anantapur, Medak and Mahabubnagar. Sri Sathya 
Sai Central Trust made it possible.  Bhagawan Sri 
Sathya Sai Baba reached out to the neglected 
villages with a sense of urgency, and the project 
was completed with speed and efficiency, thanks to 
the commitment and spirit of service displayed by 
various agencies.
In November 1994, the Trust began its mission in 
Anantapur. The Panchayat Raj department of
Government of Andhra Pradesh acted quickly, 
submitted plans for providing drinking water to 
more than 700 villages and urban centres such as 
Anantapur, Kadiri, Dharmavaram as indicated by
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Construction of 
this massive project was entrusted to ECC.
Sri Sathya Sai Water Supply Projects
Coverage: Three Districts - 1051 villages - 10.8 million  
people
Overhead water reservoir at 
Anantapur

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172
Water treatment plant at 
Penna Ahobilam Balancing 
Reservoir, which covers 93 
villages in Kalyandurg and 
Atmakur.
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Sri Sathya Sai Water Supply Project at Anantapur 
consists of four schemes:
•  Comprehensive Protected Water Supply Schemes
involving infiltration wells, collection wells and 
associated pumping behind the Chirtavati Balancing 
Reservoir at Peddakotla and Chinnakotla villages 
covering 169 villages. Sources for other infiltration 
wells include Penna and Hagari river which cover 93 
villages.
•  Direct pumping from Penna Ahobilam Balancing
Reservoir (PABR) and treatment through
     rapid sand filtration system. This consists of two 
major lines passing through Kalyandurg and   
     Atmakur covering 93 villages.
•  Comprehensive Protected Water Supply Schemes
(CPWS) through seven summer storage tanks rang-
ing upto 100 acres by tapping water from Tungab-
hadra High Level Canal, covering 97 villages. Water 
Treatment Plant at PABR for Sri Sathya Sai Water 
Supply Project at Anantapur
•  The Protected Water Supply (PWS) Scheme covers
279 villages. It involved drilling deep borewells,
     construction of storage tanks and installation of 
pipeline networks.
The design, engineering and implementation of Sri Sathya 
Sai Drinking Water Supply project in Anantapur District 
of Andhra Pradesh, India, (a massive project worth nearly 
US$70 million) was completed by L&T within 18 months 
without cost overruns; exceeding the international norms 
and standards in my experience.  L&T’s performance 
was characterised by a combination of high levels of 
professionalism, integrity, innovation and team spirit and 
a rare sense of vision. 
During the course of an independent evaluation of the 
project by UN-HABITAT (2003) jointly with the Asian 
Development Bank, the assessment team was deeply 
moved by the impact the project had on the lives of 
nearly a million people who benefited from it. A touching 
example was a widow and mother of three children in a 
remote village in Anantapur district whose daughter had 
to drop out of the school in order to fetch water from 
long distances before the project was implemented.  
After the project had brought water close to their 
doorstep, the girl had been readmitted to school and 
the mother was planning to revive her late husband’s 
weaving business in the productive time she had gained 
back with no more long distance treking for fetching 
water.  
Mr. Kalyan Ray,  Former Chief of Infrastructure Branch, 
United Nations Human Settlements Programme  
(UN-HABITAT) and Senior Advisor to UN Under-Secretary 
General, UN-HABITAT.

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