CC-Projects in India

In 2021, SAVWIPL renewed financial support to a hospital in Aurangabad to enable it provide blood transfusion free of cost to children with thalassemia whose families are unable to afford the treatment.

SAVWIPL signed a memorandum of understanding with Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Prathishtan – a reputed hospital in Aurangabad for this purpose.

With SAVWIPL’s annual financial support of INR 10 million, the Hospital arranges blood bags through Dattaji Bhale Blood Bank for young patients from the weaker sections of the society.

As per a report approximately 50% of road crash victims lose their lives due to a lack of timely medical intervention within the Golden Hour. In most cases victims of road crashes either bleed or choke to death. First responders in most cases are Police officials who are not trained to intervene and provide basic trauma and life support.

With a view to addressing this critical need, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, in association with SaveLife Foundation. is offering training on Basic Trauma Life Support to approximately 1000 police personnel in Mumbai, Pune and Raigad.

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India launched an integrated watershed development project in 2 villages – Naiphad and Mandoshi in Khed taluka, Pune District, that face water shortages. The project which commenced in December 2020 aims to treat around 3616 hectares for soil and water conservation, create 244,000,000 litres of water storage capacity, and plant at least 10,000 trees as part of agro-forestry. Nearly 18000 cum of very deep trenches and 1 earthen nala bund constructed in 2021 were able to harvest approximately 48 million litres of rainwater during the monsoon season. Also 300 farmers were provided with 9000 fruit bearing trees for their farm lands as part of agro-forestry.

The community has been involved in all stages of the project including planning, implementation and sustainability. A team of youth leaders were provided leadership training so they can play a role in sustaining the initiatives. In view of the pandemic and very heavy rains in the latter half of 2021, the all planned activities are expected to be completed in the first half of 2022

ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation (MMBCF) in November 2019.

The Foundation is an autonomous society that assists the State government in mangrove and marine biodiversity conservation. The company has partnered with the Mangrove Foundation for restoration of degraded mangrove forests in Alibaug, a coastal town of Raigad, Maharashtra.

Spread across 100 hectares of Alibaug coastline, the project involves planting and maintaining of over 583,300 mangrove saplings of 8 different mangrove species. The project aims at enabling local communities with coastal protection, providing habitat for their fisheries, and building biodiversity in the region, including endangered marine species. Additionally, the project will provide livelihood opportunities for local residents and will equip them with technical skills required in mangrove restoration.

Mangroves serve as a bio-shield protecting the shorelines from erosion and provide breeding areas for aquatic animals and are vital to sustaining coastal fishing areas. It supports the environment with comparatively more carbon sequestration than terrestrial forests.

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India has embarked on transforming two high fatality intersections in Pune into safe intersections, accessible for all. The project will be using Tactical Urbanism (TU) to address the problems on the two selected intersections. The projected impact of the interventions are:

1. Reduce conflict between vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as cyclists, pedestrians, etc., and other motorised transport thereby preventing crashes.
   
2. Reduce VRU exposure time while negotiating the intersection.
   
3. Reduce crash related fatalities and serious injuries to zero during the period of intervention.
   
4. Make recommendations to the State Government to implement TU project learnings to eliminate crash fatalities on the intersection permanently.
    

Organise public engagement activities to develop public support for the project and promote responsible road usage.

Since 2015, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, in association with the Lila Poonawalla Foundation, has awarded scholarships to financially disadvantaged but talented girls so they can pursue engineering degrees. So far, the company has supported scholarships for 110 students. 36 students have successfully completed the engineering degree and are either working or pursuing higher education..

In addition to the financial support for their education, the girls are mentored by professionals from different industry sectors and given supplementary training to assist with their personal development.  

In 2021, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India extended support to healthcare institutions, the local police, and affected communities in Aurangabad, Mumbai, Pune and a few other places in the State of Maharashtra during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company donated the following :

• PSA Oxygen Plant & Generator to a 500 -bedded Government Medical College and Hospital in Dhule that largely serves rural population.
  
• Oxygen concentrators for Hospitals in Aurangabad, Mumbai and Pune.
  
• Fowler beds to Government Medical College and Hospital, Aurangabad.
  
• Sanitization materials and equipment for a Rural Hospital in Aurangabad.

SAVWIPL supported COVID-19 vaccine for industrial workers in Mumbai in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and since March 2021, SAVWIPL’s Mobile Health Clinic team has been supporting the local Primary Healthcare Centre near the Pune Plant in administering COVID-19 vaccine to residents of 34 villages.

MAN Truck & Bus sponsors social-impact startups in the transportation sector through the MAN Impact Accelerator, launched in 2017. The initiative focuses on finding solutions to global challenges such as population growth and urbanization.

MAN manages this program jointly with the Yunus Social Business initiative set up by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. MAN takes the approach of encouraging employees to become involved in social-impact projects sponsored by the company so they can act as mentors to the young entrepreneurs, supporting them with their professional expertise.

Further details can be found here: http://impact.man.eu/

ŠKODA Auto Volkswagen India has created Oxygen Park with 25,000 trees of 49 native species on 5 hectares of land. This park is located in Shendra MIDC, 5 Star Industrial Area – near SAVWIPL’s Aurangabad Plant.

• Concept – Dense Plantation
• Total Oxygen Generation - Matured Trees – 3,250 Ton / PA
• Total CO₂ Sequestered- Matured Trees – 600 Ton / PA

The Oxygen Park has good walkways and solar lamps which make the Park well-lit in the evenings. This is expected to have a good effect on the physical well-being of people living and working in the vicinity of the Park.

SAVWIPL has further increased the green cover in Shendra Industrial Area, Aurangabad by creating The Green Hub with 10,000 trees of native species. The Green Hub is located on 2 hectares of land.

In 2018 the Vision Zero Fatality Corridor Project was launched on the 111 km ‘Old Mumbai-Pune Highway’ in association with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and SaveLIFE Foundation to significantly reduce and ultimately eliminate the incidence of road traffic crashes and fatalities on the Mumbai –Pune Corridor of the National Highway (NH-48). The project also seeks to increase awareness amongst civilians about providing emergency services and support, and will capture data and metrics for long-term decision making around road safety.

In addition to this 111 km stretch between Mumbai and Pune, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India is supporting the Vision Zero Fatality Corridor initiative on an approximately 12 km stretch of outer ring road (from Signature Bridge to Bhalswa Crossing) in New Delhi that contains 4 Government-identified Black Spots: Bhalswa Crossing, Mukundpur Crossing, Burari Crossing, Jahangirpuri Bus Stop Crossing, and Gandhi Vihar Junction Crossing. These have been identified as high risk areas for vehicular and pedestrian movement.

Some of the significant steps taken under the project were:

1. Regular Crash Vulnerability Audit of the project road to assess engineering errors.
   
2. Forensic investigation of road crashes on the project road
   
3. Creation and dissemination of GIS map of the 111 km stretch focusing on road safety
   
4. Instituting dedicated safety patrolling for the highway
   
5. Conducted Tactical Urbanism (TU) on the Black spots on Outer Ring Road at Bhalswa Chowk in Delhi
   
6. Initiated India’s first TU trial on a National Highway at Karla and Kanhe Phata, NH 48
   
7. Training of Police officers and Community volunteers in Basic Trauma Life Skills.
   
8. Training of public transport drivers in Anticipatory Driving and Accident Prevention Training

Since its launch in 2018, the project has accomplished the following on the Mumbai–Pune Corridor:

1. 54% reduction in fatal road crash death in the year 2020 (baseline 2018).
   
2. Building a coalition between the various governmental agencies to ensure the sustainability of the project, Maharashtra State Road Development Cooperation, Maharashtra Highway Police, and Maharashtra Health Department.
   
3. SLF’s advocacy has led to the rectification of 2519 errors between 2020 and 2021.
   
4. Additional two patrol cars deployed and electronic enforcement via Police interceptors introduced
   
5. Visible Police presence on the Project stretch ensured through the installation of the first dedicated Traffic Aid Post. Work on the post is in progress
   
6. Improved retro-reflectivity on 17 gaps-in-median along the highway
   
7. 8 unauthorized and hazardous gaps in median closed
   
8. Regular crash investigation started to find the causal factor
   
9. Crash Notification system launched
   
10. 185 Chevron markers 34 large boards installed informing commuters of Emergency care services were put up on the Old Highway
    
11. 1500 retro reflective stickers installed on trees to improve night visibility
    
12. Submitted designs for highway improvement such as (i) alternate traffic calming measures design for speed humps,( ii) safer intersection design for Vadgaon Phata, and (iii) Safety design at 03 identified black spots.
    
13. Outreach to over 500 local youth to spread safe-driving awareness

Since its launch in 2018, the project has accomplished the following in Delhi:

1. Tactical redesigning at Bhalswa Chowk resulted in 100% elimination of road crash fatalities, 70% reduction in pedestrian exposure, and 80% compliance on usage of zebra crossings and footpaths.
   
2. Persuaded Delhi Government to replicate the project model on other blackspots
   
3. Outreach to 12,000 students and teachers in the vicinity of the blackspot
   
4. Training of over 1,474 drivers of the Delhi Transport Corporation

A naturally occurring uneven pit was present on the Oxygen Park premises in Shendra Industrial Area, Aurangabad. SAVWIPL undertook de-silting, widening and deepening of the pit which has produced excellent results. It has helped in extending moisture level of the soil for a longer period after the monsoon season.

The company has also refurbished an existing water well at the site to conserve more water.  

Over the last few years, SAVWIPL has been supporting a village near the Aurangabad Plant to harvest rainwater by de-silting and widening of waterways/streams that flow into Laukee River.

In 2021, 174 million litres of rainwater harvesting capacity was created in Warzadi village by de-silting and widening a water stream. This along with the 120 million litres of rainwater harvesting capacity created in 2018 has further boosted the capacity of Warzadi village to save precious rainwater.

In addition to increasing green cover in the MIDC Shendra Industrial Area through the Oxygen Park and the Green Hub, SAVWIPL has also focused on water conservation in the area. In 2021, the company created 40 million litres of rainwater harvesting capacity in MIDC Open Space 16 by building an open water tank.