Member Profile: Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell

Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC) a joint initiative of AKRSP (I), Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF), Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Government of Gujarat, has been visualized as a fulcrum to develop and strengthen various initiatives of government and civil society organizations, aimed at addressing the issue of salinity. Salinity is multi-sectarian and complex in nature, demanding systematic response. Considering the complexity and the multi faceted nature of salinity problem, substantial impact was felt necessary, wherein joint efforts of both, government and civil society organizations are required. This possibly could be done through an umbrella organization in the form of CSPC. This resulted from a dialogue process between civil society organizations and other partner NGOs, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Government of Gujarat, which issued a circular on April 12, 2004, constituting the CSPC and its State level Steering Committee headed by Secretary Water Resources, Government of Gujarat. As on 7th April, 2008 CSPC registered itself as a Company under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956.

TATA-GE Special Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Project -Supported by Sir Ratan Tata Trust under “Kharash Vistrotthan Yojana”

Handing over of Reverse Osmosis Plant to village community”
Village: Loyaj, Mangrol block, Junagadh district
Village: Miyani, Porbandar block, Porbandar district

In February 2005, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) operationalized a three year project to set up the Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC), Ahmedabad to develop knowledge bank related to salinity issues in Gujarat, network and develop linkages with the government and other agencies; pilot area specific innovations and community approaches for addressing salinity related issues; and function as the nodal agency for kharash Vistrotthan Yojana (KVY). CSPC has put in efforts to network and collaborate with different institutions in salinity affected villages and providing inputs for programme enhancement. CSPC has also put in efforts for idea incubation, by implementing small pilot programmes to assess viability of various technological options, viz. Farm Pond Model, Aquaculture in Saline Areas, Salinity Tolerant Horticulture Crops, Dew Harvesting Systems, etc. State level linkages have also been established by synergizing efforts for providing drinking water in the coastal villages.

As a part of salinity prevention initiative, TATA – GE (General Electronics) collaborative project initiated a special drinking water and sanitation project for addressing drinking water and sanitation issues in coastal blocks of in Porbandar and Junagadh district. The drinking water issues will be addressed through the adoption of appropriate technological solutions, namely Reverse Osmosis (RO) processes. The sanitation issues would be addressed through sensitization of community for safe sanitation and hygiene practices and construction of household level toilets and demonstration of other facilities like smokeless chullahs, biogas plant etc.

Major scope of the Project:
The project will currently cover 10 villages across Mangrol block of Junagadh district and Porbandar block of Porbandar district. A total of about 5000 households (app. 25,000 beneficiaries) would be covered across 10 villages. The major activities planned in each village are:
Community level capacity building initiatives for construction, operation and maintenance of the RO based drinking water supply units;
Training and capacity building inputs for enhancing the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices related to safe sanitation and making all the villages Open Defecation Free villages;
Comprehensive village level drinking water storage and supply network;
Construction of individual HH level sanitation units, compost pits, soak pits, biogas / NADEP units / smokeless chullahs

Major expected outcome of the project are:
Improved access to drinking and domestic water needs through provision of treated potable water. Currently it is planned to provide the village with at least 20 lpcd to about 60 lpcd, and extended as per demand and success of the model.
Substantial reduction in drudgery and time of women for fetching domestic water.
100% individual household toilet coverage as against merely average 15% coverage
Promotion of improved hygiene and sanitation practices like appropriate hand washing practices, daily bathing practices, appropriate domestic waste disposal system and improvement in health and environmental conditions

Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC) envelops the coastal districts of Gujarat state covering Amreli, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Bharuch, Kutch and Rajkot to address the salinity issue. CSPC puts in efforts for idea incubation, by implementing small pilot programmes to assess viability of various technological options, viz. Farm Pond Model, Aquaculture in Saline Areas, Salinity Tolerant Horticulture Crops, Dew Harvesting Systems, etc. in these areas. At present, CSPC through the KVY project partners has an outreach to about 250 coastal villages touching the lives of approximately 25000 House Holds, while the programmes in pipeline will scale up the physical interventions to over 450 salinity affected villages in the next couple of years.