To beat the heat: Mumbai students bring relief to Metro workers with #EkBottlePaani

The initiative, led by XIC, was aimed at helping the workers fight the heat and stay hydrated while working

While many of us choose to stay indoors in the sweltering heat, a group of students from Xavier Institute of Communication (XIC) spent their Sunday distributing water bottles to hundreds of construction workers building the city’s Metro network.

Using the hashtag #EkBottlePaani, students also took to social media to create awareness about helping the Metro workers. (ht photo)

The initiative, led by XIC, was aimed at helping the workers fight the heat and stay hydrated while working. “This is a unique water distribution initiative for the hands that are building the future of the city,” said Pratham Tripathi, a student of XIC, who participated in the event.

The city is witnessing one of the most severe summer seasons, with the temperature rising above 40 degree Celsius.

Wearing white shirts and caps, the students covered the six-kilometre stretch from Fort area to Worli, stopping at each Metro construction site on the way.

The students, who gave away 800 bottles of mineral water to the workers, also took to social media to create awareness about helping and empathising with the manual labourers using the hashtag #EkBottlePaani. “It was the first time we did something like this and felt really good about it. The workers were really happy,” said Tripathi.

Rajiv Chawla, head of department, Advanced Integrated Communication Programme, XIC, said, “Mumbai Metro is going to make life easier for the citizens. But people rarely acknowledge the hard work put in by the workers. To ensure they are smiling in this scorching heat and to make people aware of their hard work, we initiated this event.”

“We have been conducting such activities regularly where our students go out in the field and help various people,” said Fr Keith D’souza, executive chairman, Bombay St. Xavier’s College Society, which runs XIC.