India Program Update: January 2008Completed projects: 19 villages in the SundarbansThanks to the support of Water 1st donors, 19 villages in the Sundarbans now have safe water and latrines. ConstructionOur projects in India utilize groundwater for domestic water supply to meet the drinking, cooking and washing needs of community members. Deep wells are drilled and India Mark II handpumps are installed. These handpumps are common in India, and spare parts are readily available. Our partner organization, APS, hires local well-drilling contractors who use the same drilling principles as drilled wells in the USA but rely on human power for the drilling! A steel drilling bit is attached to a 20-foot pipe section which is then rotated by the drill crew while drilling mud is pumped down the center of the pipe. One or two men walk round the central axis turning the drilling pipe, and the weight of the combined pipes provide the necessary downward force. The rotating drill bit loosens soil which is floated up the outside of the pipe by the drilling mud to the surface. As the drill goes deeper, additional pipe sections are attached. Once the final depth is reached, all of the piping and the drill bit will be pulled back out of the well. Well screens will be attached and the pipes will be re-installed down the well. This activity must be performed very quickly before the open hole collapses. “Before the water project was constructed here, I walked about 2 miles to get water from the school. When that hand-pump isn’t working, I have to walk farther to another hand-pump where there is always a line because so many people are using it. When APS came to us with the opportunity for a water project, we met quickly and decided to contribute 10 Rupees/month from each family to pay our portion of the project costs.” Water committee member from Fatickpur Each handpump serves about 100 families, and are partially financed by the villagers themselves through a revolving loan fund. Water 1st pays for 60% of the costs of the water points. The villagers pay the remaining 40% of the costs over four years. Repaid loan money is being used in 2008 to construct additional water systems. Wells have been drilled and handpumps installed in the following locations in the Sundarbans of West Bengal, India:
Namkhana Block:
Patharpratima Block:
Five hundred off-set pit, pour-flush toilets have also been constructed in the three blocks. The APS design is good: the use of a water seal and non-vented pit decreases bad odors and can effectively isolate pathogens from the human environment. Like the water points, 40% of the cost of the toilets is paid for by individual households over a four-year period. Repaid loan funds are being used to support new toilet construction in 2008, so that 100% of the families in the three block area will all have toilets. “Every month, we go to each household to collect the water fee. We then deposit this money in our new bank account. Most of us had never been outside Paschim Surendnagar, so we didn’t know what to do at a bank, but now we have been trained and we can do it all ourselves.” Sabita, water committee member from Paschim Surendranagar Debasish, one of the APS field workers for Namkhana Block told us the that the most difficult part of his job is that there is so much demand, and not enough funding for latrines to go around. That is another reason the loan program works well here: it allows us to stretch our resources even further to reach more people. Community organization and trainingVillage water and sanitation committees have been formed for each water point. The committees consist of about 10 female members, all of whom belong to self-help groups (SHGs). The various SHGs in a village determine the water and sanitation committee membership. The water and sanitation committee works with the local panchayat (local government) to get consent for the water point. The villages must obtain a “no objection” certificate in order to use the land for the water point. Land is either public land or donated land from a private owner. The water and sanitation committee collects, records and deposits in a bank a monthly water subscription fee, about 10 Rupees/month (about 25 cents), from each household. The poorest families or widows with no income are typically allowed to pay less. These fees are used cover the operation and maintenance costs of the water points and to pay back the loan for the project representing 40% of the capital cost. Committee members are trained in hand-pump operation and maintenance and given a set of tools and an initial supply of spare parts. Water and sanitation committee members also participate in hygiene education training, where they learn about the benefits of sanitation and hand-washing and how to promote these ideas with their neighbors. Because APS also supports villagers with primary health care, polio and other vaccinations are also encouraged by the APS staff during this training. The sanitation promotion has been very effective, with demand for toilets out-pacing the funding available. More than waterIndia is a densely populated country; thus the benefits of improvements that our water, sanitation and hygiene education projects bring here go beyond the health impacts. Sanitation enhances dignity, privacy and safety, especially for women and girls. It improves convenience and social status. Restricted toilet opportunities increase the chance of chronic constipation and is making women vulnerable to violence if they are forced to defecate during nightfall and in secluded areas. Providing improved sanitation facilities is a liberating development for women and girls and is providing substantial benefits for the whole community. “Before we built the latrine, I was so ashamed. Sometimes the wealthy land-owners would yell at us for going in the fields, but we didn’t have any choice. Now thanks to this project, we have a latrine and soon we will have water. I am so happy for my children that they will have a better life. We know we are very lucky.” Bahata Tipradan from Rajnagar Srinathgram Bahata Tipradan from Rajnagar Srinathgram told us, “Before we built the latrine, I was so ashamed. Sometimes the wealthy land-owners would yell at us for going in the fields, but we didn’t have any choice. Now thanks to this project, we have a latrine and soon we will have water. I am so happy for my children that they will have a better life. We know we are very lucky.” Projects under construction: 10 villages in the SundarbansIn 2008, we are continuing our support of water, sanitation and hygiene education projects in the Kakdwip, Namkhana and Patharpratima Blocks of the Sundarbans of West Bengal. The following 10 communities will construct wells with hand-pumps and household latrines this year: Kakdwip Block:
Namkhana Block:
Patharpratima Block:
Approximately 4,000 people will benefit from the safe water supplied by these projects when they are complete. The revolving loan fund is already helping us to fund additional projects in communities in need. In 2008, this fund will be used to fund at least one of the 10 new water points as well as 10 new toilets. Households participating in the project will participate in a hygiene education program and also elect a water committee to operate and maintain their water project. Volunteer plumbers from the community will be trained to operate and maintain the hand pumps.
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“I love my job, because I can serve these people, and then I get love back from them.” Debasish, APS field staff
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