The decade-old Legacy of Watering India’s Growth
With over a dozen water welfare initiatives, Astral Foundation elevates 1.5M+ lives by aligning the expertise of Astral Limited, a Fortune 500 India Company, with the growth & development goals of rural regions as one of India’s biggest CSR groups.
Driving India’s Proudest Eco-feminist Story
What does it take to transform 200 square kilometres of barrenness—inhabited by enough families but very few daughters—into an oasis of greenery by just celebrating every girl child? The leadership of a grieving father, ready-to-implement government policies, and the power of collective action.
Piplantri’s Transformation Over 3 Decades
Despite the prohibition of Pre-conception & Pre-natal diagnostics, and Government funds to support every girl child financially, daughters in rural India are synonymous with burdening responsibilities, as evidenced by the 1,218 female infanticides reported per year up until 3 decades ago.
When Padma Shri Shyam Sunder Paliwal lost his daughter to severe dehydration, he vowed to sow a better future for Piplantri’s daughters with a unique tradition of planting 111 trees to celebrate every girl child.
Beyond propelling a gender-equal and greener ecosystem, the state’s employment, women, and child welfare policies were helpful in unlinking economic factors, like dowry obligations, and societal perceptions associated with a girl child.
Astral Foundation joined hands with the people of Piplantri to provide the water connectivity for sustaining the green cover, AND inspire the world with this story.
Fueled by compassion, Astral Foundation joined the initiative and installed a 13-km water pipeline for the plantation sites and planted 5,000 trees.
As a result, it seamlessly nurtured the entire forest oasis with a total of over 300,000 lakh trees now bringing water from almost 800 meters below to ground level, inviting biodiversity.
And it didn’t stop there! On International Day of the Girl Child, Astral Foundation launched a heartfelt film that evocatively visualises the transformation in Piplantri and tells its inspiring tale to the world, conveying a message of environmental sustainability and breaking free from the traditional perceptions of the girl child as a burden.
White Rivers Media conceptualised and executed this epic narrative in exceptional storytelling that became a buzzworthy discourse among influential figures of the country on social media as soon as the film was dropped.
This grassroots movement played a pivotal role in regenerating both Piplantri’s natural and societal ecosystem, representing a crucial step in addressing Gender Inequality and Climate Change.
By collaborating with Padma Shri Shyam Sunder Paliwal, Astral Foundation fostered a deep connection with the environment and its inhabitants, where corporate responsibility was an extension of shared humanity.
