Integrated Drinking Water Project Kachner Tanda No. 1, Block&Dist. Aurangabad

The monitoring visit was conducted to Kachner Tanda No. 1 in May 2011 by Mr. J R Pawar, Co-ordinator and Ms. Anjali Waghe, Senior Social Development Officer of the Regional Resource Centre (RRC), Aurangabad.

The work of Integrated Watershed Project is being implemented in this village since 2009, and regular quarterly monitoring visits are conducted by the RRC, Aurangabad team.

Present Status of the Project:
1. Under the watershed development activities, the land treatment on 280 ha. is completed till May 2011 against the total proposed area of 320 ha.
2. Under the drainage line treatment, construction of four cement check dams, two small earthen bunds and earthen gully plugs are completed.

Status of Drinking Water Project:
1. The drinking water project was completed in August 2010. Since then, all 52 households regularly avail the water for drinking, domestic and livestock every day.
2. The Water Committee/villagers have appointed a local person (Vijendra Nanusing Jadhav) for operating the water pump and distribution of water. An honorarium of Rs. 1000/- per month is paid to Vijendra. Each family contributes Rs. 20/- per month towards the honorarium.
3. The capacity of the newly constructed water storage tank is 20,000 litres. Everyday the drinking water is released twice a day during the rainy and winter seasons. In summer due to shortage of water, it is released only once a day.
4. In summer, each household receives 200 litres of water every day, whereas in other months, each family receives 300 to 350 litres of water every day which is used for drinking, domestic and livestock.
5. There is 100% usage by the community/individuals and by all the marginalized and vulnerable population serviced. The primary school has access to the drinking water and for sanitation too. The water is being used for preparation of the daily meals for the primary school children and Anganwadi (Kinder garden).
6. During the last quarter (March-June 2010), a new school building is constructed which includes; four classrooms, office and one kitchen room for cooking the school day meals under the government funds. Also a new sanitary block consisting of two toilets and four urinals (a unit of one toilet plus two urinals for boys and the same for girls) has been constructed. The water for the construction was provided from the new Drinking Water Project.
7. Since the drinking water is provided through the individual tap connections at the doorsteps of each household, each household maintains the distribution system, the tap connection and the cleanliness of the surrounding area, therefore, during the visit, there is no clogged drain water or stagnation or stagnate water.
8. Community surveys to inspect the sanitary condition of water sources, quality of water sources and to the check ground water levels.
9. There is good working relation and co-operation with the group Gram Panchayat (which is in the neighbouring village) and convergence of GP Funds for the school building and sanitation unit.
10. Water is available at a pre-determined and convenient time to all households in the morning at 8:00 a.m. and in the evening at 7:00. (in summer, only in the morning)
11. The drinking water is purified every day by applying the TCL powder in the water storage tank.

Impacts of Watershed works:
1. Due to the large area, land treatment coverage under Watershed Development Program, the underground table in the drinking water well and also in the private irrigation wells, has been increased. Thus leads to the underground water security.

2. In the comparison of the last summer (2010) the water table in the common drinking water well has been increased 2 meters, which was sufficient to meet the domestic water needs during the summer.

3. Due to the increase in the private irrigation wells (average 1 to 2 meters) all the existing 37 wells had sufficient water in the summer for the livestock purpose and for domestic use.
 
Impacts of Drinking Water Project:
1. Recharging of water source based on the watershed approach has resulted in water security in summer.
2. Water is available daily throughout the year. Each household gets at least 200 liters of water in summer and 300 liters in other seasons.
3. Water is available at the doorstep. The scenario is entirely changed compare to the earlier situation as people had to travel long distances to fetch water and had to wait for hours to collect water. Now hardly any person is seen waiting to collect water for less than half an hour and also for carrying water less than 100 meters distance, against the 1-2 kms. distance in the pre-project period.
4. The operation and maintenance cost will be recovered by the GP through the collection of water tax.
5. Water is affordable to all. No one is denied the lifeline of water due to lack of paying capacity.
6. The saved time of 3-4 hours per day of the women to fetch water is being utilized for the domestic work or earning daily wages in their own fields.
7. The drudgery of fetching water has been reduced. There is an increased awareness among the village community, especially among the women, about the clean water and waterborne diseases. All women use the chlorosafe for the purification of drinking water which has resulted in reduction of waterborne diseases in the village.
8. Increased awareness especially among the women and children is high in hygiene and behavioural practices (everyone washes hands after defecation, handles water with clean hands etc.)
9. The women’s water committee has been selected in the Gramsabha through a democratic process. Since the project is implemented by the women successfully, their confidence is augmented and function in the decision making process as well as in the village development activities more actively.
10. Due to the watershed and drinking water project, peoples’ unity and co-operation has enhanced.

PhotoPhilanthropy/Blue Planet Network visit to Kachner Tanda No. 1

I visited Kachner Tanda No. 1 in mid November 2010, one stop among several during two weeks of photographic documentation of drinking water, sanitation and watershed development projects in rural villages in two Indian states. My tour was sponsored by Peer Water Exchange and hosted by three non-governmental organizations. My host for the visit to Kachner Tanda was the Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR), which has been working with the village since 2008 and has an 18-year history of doing good works in Maharashtra and four other Indian states.

Kachner Tanda is one of eight hamlets comprising a Banjara tribal community. The Banjara tribe originated in Rajasthan state. They regularly traded with people in Maharashtra and some eventually settled there. This hamlet consists of 50 families totaling 330 people. WOTR began doing watershed development projects in Kachner Tanda in 2008. About 70 percent of work has been completed and it’s expected to be finished in another year, according to Thomas Palghadmal, manager of WOTR’s social programs, who accompanied me on my visit as guide and translator.

The villagers are farmers and grow food grains, cotton, sorghum and wheat. Because they rely on rainwater for irrigation in a drought-prone area, crop yields aren’t sufficient to provide a year-round income. Many villagers cut sugar cane for five months each year once their own crops are in.

Nanusimg Jesu Jadhar, village headman, explained that the people decided to work with WOTR on land treatments to capture and harvest more rainwater that otherwise ran off the land. The goal is to recharge the underground water table and raise the level of groundwater so that more water is available for crops and livestock.

According to WOTR’s web site, “The process of watershed development consists of harvesting rainwater wherever it falls, regenerating the environment, increasing green cover and adopting sustainable land husbandry practices in the watershed. It involves making bunds, digging trenches, building gullies, etc in a way that will arrest the rapid flow of water downhill from slopes to the ground. This is necessary because during the few days of rainfall, the tendency of water is to gush down the slopes and also take the top soil cover along with it. This means that there is no water conservation and precious fertile soil is lost too. When this flow is reduced or made to go through steps, water percolates into the ground at various spots and increases the underground water table. At the bottom of the hills, it collects to form water reservoirs. And while flowing down slowly it helps turn patches of land green.”

Also in WOTR’s arsenal of watershed-restoration techniques is planting trees of various types to stabilize slopes. Villagers must agree to stop chopping down trees for firewood and in some places not to graze their cattle on the new grass that grows to also help keep soil in place and slow runoff.

The village contributes labor and 20 percent of the total project cost.

FROM DISTANT WELLS TO DOORSTEP TAPS: DRINKING WATER TRANSFORMATION
WOTR completed a drinking water project for the village in June 2010 that eventually brought fresh water to the doorsteps of each household. Village women formed a committee to direct the project. Shambilel Rathor, secretary of the committee, said that Kachner Tanda suffered acute drinking water shortages in the summer. Women from several villages would walk a few kilometers to a single well that still had water. Fetching water from distant wells is an arduous daily task that saps time and energy from other tasks. The water wasn’t always clean.

Just like the watershed work, the village contributed 20 percent of the cost of the new drinking water project. An existing older well was dug out as a water source. A 20,000-liter water storage tank was built and 2,400 feet of pipe was laid to bring the water into the village. Separate connections were installed to pipe water to each home as outdoor taps.

The villagers must pay for the maintenance of the drinking water system decided to contribute a 20RS “water tax” monthly to pay the salary of one man who oversees the work Chlorine powder is added to the water in the storage tank and villagers use a few drops of sanitizing chemicals in each pot of water that comes out of the tap.

I asked Shambilel what difference this has made in villagers lives. “We’re very happy. The women spend less time fetching water. We used to spend two to three hours a day on this chore. Now we can fill up their containers quickly and we no longer have to store clean water. We now use this time for other household work.”

The village next wants to install toilets and bathrooms and receive some education on better agricultural practices.

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