The project aims to establish protected piped water supply to 36 rural households benefiting 271 people in Laxmipur village at the Gajapati district in the state of Odisha.

Narrative

Gram Vikas has developed a simple yet sustainable concept of gravity flow water supply that has successfully managed to provide continuous water supply in hundreds of remote hilly villages.
In gravity flow, where ever possible water is tapped from a suitable sprong exists, Gram Vikas have developed a highly innovative solution of establishing a sanitary dug well. A slit is cut down one side of the well and a pipe is attached at the bottom. The slit is then blocked back up, and the entire well is lines with stones. Water then percolates into the well, where it is stored, and can then be transported to the village over head tank. The spring or well are at a higher altitude than the village, therefore the water is transported through pipes using principles of gravity from where it is again distributed through pipes to all families around the clock. To ensure the pipes are protected, they are dug deep into the ground.

  • Chitra Chaudhuri of Gram Vikas
    • confidential
    • SMS
    Implementation Status: completed_late Thu 07 Mar 2013, About 11 Years ago

    6 families received Rs. 19200 as subsidy for sanitation under TSC.

  • Chitra Chaudhuri of Gram Vikas
    • confidential
    • SMS
    Implementation Status: completed_late Thu 07 Feb 2013, About 11 Years ago

    water supply functional and people are enjoying water on taps.

  • Chitra Chaudhuri of Gram Vikas
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: completed_overbudget Sat 04 Aug 2012, Over 11 Years ago

    Laxmipur's story

    Laxmipur is a Panchayat village in Rayagad block of Gajapati district. The village has 36 families of mixed community. Being a Panchayat headquarter , the village is connected by road and has a primary school , an anganwadi centre and a health centre.

    Gram Vikas’ Koinpur project started operations in other tribal villages of Laxmipur Gram Panchayat some years back with sanitation and bathing room with piped water to each household. It was a challenge considering the tough terrain and the poor economic condition of the tribal communities – as they had to pay quite a significant share in establishing the hardware. But once the water flowed to the village, people were overjoyed and slowly small but significant changes are visible in these villages- improved backyard vegetable gardens, better health and hygiene conditions, more regular schooling and economic activitiy by accessing credit from financial institutions.

    It was a challenge to convice people of Laxmipur village to implement a similar project- the community did not feel the need , was not interested and expected the government to establish the facilties without having to bear any part of the cost. However when over 80% of the villages under this Panchayat were enjoying piped water at their doorsteps, the women of Laxmipur were hauling headloads of water daily. It was also difficult for them to answer nature’s call at will due to lack of dicrete places- the market place being nearby, most often there were people around during the day. This prompted the women of Laxmipur to approach Gram Vikas’ Koinpur office and seek help for the programme. Once they heard the conditions – establishment of corpus, sharing nearly 60% of the cost of individual toilets and bathing rooms, maintenance for water etc, they had a series of meetings to sort out these conditions and came forward with their plan to Gram Vikas.

    After this , the construction of toilets and bathing rooms took place– with the entire village coordinating the collection of local materials. Since the stones for the construction work was not available locally, it had to be bought from a neighbouring area. This led to each family contributing on an average of Rs. 8000 .

    After the toilets , the water supply was initiated. The plan was to establish a gravity fed water supply system. The community had identified a spot and dug a small well to see if water was available . Unfortunately, the water was insufficient and the source dried up in the scorching heat of the summer. The challenge was to identify a new water source now!

    There was an existing open well in the village , but the water would be insufficient during the summer months. The Village leaders selected another spot to dig a new well. Finally a team of well diggers were hired to dig the well which is 36 feet deep. The well yielded good water even in the summer months. Water is being pumped to a 10,000 liter elevated water tank which is sufficient to supply 24 hours of piped water.
    This change in design has had an implication on the budget and there has been an increase in expenditure for this project.

    Presently each household has taken a water connection with a water meter so that the tariff will be equitable- depending upon water use.

    Laxmipur’s initiative has motivated the remaining two villages- Jhirjira and Tendi under this Panchayat to take up the programme where the work has already started. In another year the Gram Panchayat will attain an open defecation free status on the GV model of sanitation and water.

  • Impact Assessment (M&E) Phase Project completed on 31 Jul, 2012 Implementation Phase
  • Dorothy Joseph of Gram Vikas
    • confidential
    • SMS
    Implementation Status: in_progress Thu 05 Jul 2012, Over 11 Years ago

    work delayed due to rain.

  • Dorothy Joseph of Gram Vikas
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: in_progress Mon 10 Oct 2011, Over 12 Years ago

    Mr Dayanidhi Mishra is the Project Coordinator

    Mr Dayanidhi Mishra has been appointed as the Project Coordinator for the community driven, induced gravity system in T. Lailai

  • Implementation Phase Project started on 1 Oct, 2011 Preparation Phase

The project aims to establish protected piped water supply to 36 rural households benefiting 271 people in Laxmipur village at the Gajapati district in the state of Odisha.

Narrative

Gram Vikas has developed a simple yet sustainable concept of gravity flow water supply that has successfully managed to provide continuous water supply in hundreds of remote hilly villages.
In gravity flow, where ever possible water is tapped from a suitable sprong exists, Gram Vikas have developed a highly innovative solution of establishing a sanitary dug well. A slit is cut down one side of the well and a pipe is attached at the bottom. The slit is then blocked back up, and the entire well is lines with stones. Water then percolates into the well, where it is stored, and can then be transported to the village over head tank. The spring or well are at a higher altitude than the village, therefore the water is transported through pipes using principles of gravity from where it is again distributed through pipes to all families around the clock. To ensure the pipes are protected, they are dug deep into the ground.

Sustainability

Creating and measuring long-term impact

Gram Vikas has designed a sustainable model for community organisation and development named MANTRA (Movement and Action Network for the Transformation of Rural Areas), based of five core values:
1) 100% inclusion
2) Gender equality
3) Social equity
4) Sustainability
5) Cost sharing
Water and sanitation activities have been taken up as entry point activity for initiating all round development of villages.

100% inclusion of all families is a per-condition for initiating the WATSAN work in villages. This is crucial from a total sanitation point of view, as even if one family continues to practice open defecation, water sources will continue to be polluted. 100% inclusion is also a step towards addressing exclusionary practices prevailing in society; mainly towards dalits, indigenous communities and women.

Before the programme begins in any village, the village must come to a consensus that all families, without exception, will participate. This brings the community together across barriers of caste, gender and economic status, which for centuries have excluded large sections of communities from the process of development. The village must also raise a corpus-fund of Rs 1,000 ($22) per household with the better-off paying more and the poorer less. The corpus fund is an acid test, demonstrating that the community is committed to the process if development. Interest from the corpus fund is used to meet the social costs of extending the water and sanitation system of new households in the future. ensuring 100% coverage at all times.
The community drives the implementation of the programme. The community makes the bricks and collects all the local materials available and rural youth trained in masonry build the overhead water tank and lay the network of pipes. 1-2 rural youth are trained as pump operators and are taught how to make any necessary repairs to the system.
The management of the project is undertaken by the Village Executive Committee (VEC) comprising of 6 men and 6 women, all of whom are elected in a democratic way. In addition to construction the water and sanitation infrastructure, Gram Vikas spend time building the capacities of this committee to enable them gradually take over the entire responsibility for managing the water and sanitation infrastructure after Gram Vikas' withdrawal from the village.

Other Issues

Unusual and unexpected issues faced during project execution

Although the government is supposed to provide and secure drinking water to rural communities, most often it ends up by installation of a hand pump in the village. With high use, the pumps often break down and the community depends upon the government functionaries to repair the system. In many instances such delays linger for long and people resort to unsafe surface water for drinking purposes.

Government usually priortises bigger villages for implementing of water supply projects and the small, hilly tribal habitations are left to fen for themselves. There is hardly any intervention in these small habitations that can help the people to get safe water.

In this context Gram Vikas priortises its efforts in such remote areas and works with the community to have systems to manage their drinking water needs.

Impact

People Impacted: 271

People Getting Safe Drinking Water: 271

36 families
138 men
133 women

People Getting Sanitation: 271

36 families
138 men
133 women

Funding

funded:
$9,067
Community:
$2,479
Final Cost:
$11,545

Plan/Proposal