Alleppey club donates fish tank, home

Rc Alleppey East, RID 3211, donated a 22,000-litre fish tank made of biofloc technology and costing ₹1.5 lakh to Vijay Lal (68), a motor mechanic and a plumber who had retired due to age-related illness. Now he and his spouse can pursue fish farming and make a decent income,” says club president Gopal Gireesan. Unlike an ordinary fish tank in which one can grow only around 100 fish, “biofloc tech helps accommodate over 1,000 fish at a time in a single tank and helps us to get a rich harvest in six months,” he explains. Along with the tank, fish, fish food, aerators and other equipment to maintain the hygiene of the biofloc tank were donated to the couple.

The biofloc technology uses aerators that aid the growth of bacteria and algae. “Bacteria converts the fish excreta (ammonia) into nitrate, which is consumed by algae, a rich food for fish.” A local vendor has built the custom-made tank for the couple.

This is not the first time, the club has reached out to needy families…

Biofloc tech helps accommodate over 1,000 fish at a time in a single tank and helps us to get a rich harvest in six months.
– Gopal Gireesan, president, RC Alleppey East

Project Snehaveedu

A newly-built house (750 sqft) on a three-cent land worth ₹16 lakh was gifted to a five-member family of a disabled person. Alappuzha Municipality chairperson Sowmya Raj inaugurated the home.

A dialysis unit (₹6.6 lakh) was donated to the Sagara Cooperative Hospital, Punnapara near Alleppey to provide subsidised treatment to poor patients. “Last year we donated two such units (over ₹13 lakh) and we are continuing with this project through CSR grants,” says Gireesan. Alappuzha district collector Krishna Teja inaugurated the facility and DG K Babumon addressed the gathering at the hospital. All the 86 club members are multiple Paul Harris Fellows. “At the beginning of the year, we collect ₹15,000 from each member to build an annual corpus.” While donations such as those for the fish tank and building houses are collected through member contributions, for bigger projects like dialysis “we rely on CSR grants,” adds Gireesan.