YOUR CHANCE TO IMPROVE LIVES IN INDIA
Each year CIWEM and its Branches and Groups raise funds
to support WaterAid projects. In WaterAid's 30th
year, CIWEM is raising funds to support the charity's Western
programme in India
India has a population of 1.1 billion people making it the
second most populous country in the world. It is a land of ancient
civilisations, with an amazing diversity of languages, dialects,
social customs and traditions.
Despite being considered as an emergent global economic
superpower the quality of life leaves much to be desired.
Population growth is rapid, particularly in urban areas and there
are vast divides between rich and poor with 330 million people
living below the poverty line on less than $1.25 (approximately
£0.76) per day.
Vast numbers of people live without sanitation and water. Over
136 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and
over 786 million people do not have access to even a basic
toilet.
In 2011, WaterAid's Western programme in India
will focus on eight districts and three cities in
the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. These states have
high rates of poor child nutrition, as well as maternal and infant
mortality, with tribal people and other marginalised groups being
the worst affected. Geological factors, falling water tables and
recurring drought conditions have led to serious water scarcity and
quality issues in both states.
In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh water quality is a big
problem. Contamination of sources with fluoride, nitrates, iron and
saline, means that improving access to safe drinking water is a
particular challenge. Additionally, district laboratories are not
equipped to test all water sources and Madhya Pradesh does not have
a suitable monitoring programme.
Despite increased government investment, over one million poor
households in urban areas across the state of Madhya Pradesh do not
have access to toilet facilities. Facilities for the safe disposal
of solid and liquid waste are also lacking. These poor sanitation
conditions cause major health issues for vulnerable people, with
women and children affected especially. In India, 320,000 children
under five die every year of preventable diseases that are caused
by unsafe water and sanitation.
Working with 11 local partners, the Western Programme focuses on
communities in the districts of Datia, Dhar, Chhatarpur, Morena and
Sehore and the cities of Bhopal and Indore in Madhya Pradesh State
and the districts of Raigarh, Rajnandgaon and Korba and Raipur city
in Chhattisgarh State. In 2011-12 WaterAid will work to
ensure that 71,200 people have access to safe drinking water and
143,000 people gain access to sanitation facilities and information
about improved hygiene behaviour.
In the Bundlekhand region of Madhya Pradesh the issues of
drinking water sustainability will be addressed through community
managed aquifers. The project will attempt to help the local
community understand hydrogeology and how to manage ground water
effectively.
As fluoride contamination is a problem in the Dhar district
alternative sources will be developed to supply safe drinking water
and communities will be educated on the adverse affects of
fluoride. Community based organisations will be trained to monitor
water quality and operate and manage facilities.
In the Morena district WaterAid will demonstrate equitable and
sustainable water and sanitation (WASH) services. Communities here
are often socially excluded and the programme will identify the
most excluded through mapping. Women, marginalised groups and the
poorest people will be included in decision making around the
provision of services, and trained to develop skills in the
development of WASH projects.
WaterAid hopes to improve sanitation access for the rural
population in Chhattisgarh State through engagement with government
and by enhancing the accountability of service providers. Local
service delivery institutions will receive training to deliver
sanitation services effectively and health workers will be taught
how to encourage good hygiene behaviour to local communities.
By promoting menstrual hygiene management in the Korba district
of Chhattisgarh State, WaterAid will work to improve the personal
hygiene of the female tribal population. Seven hundred adolescent
girls and 500 women will receive access to affordable menstrual
hygiene services as a result of this project.
Working in the cities of Indore and Bhopal and the three small
towns of Ashta, Raisen and Khajuraho, in Madhya Pradesh State, and
Raipur in Chhattisgarh State WaterAid plans to work with
communities to identify WASH issues relevant to them and help them
to raise these issues with service providers to demand the services
they are entitled to. They will work with those responsible for
service provision, such as government officials and city engineers,
to ensure that the needs of excluded and marginalised people are
considered when planning infrastructure and help improve
environmental sanitation by installing demonstration models of
solid and liquid waste systems in Ashta, Raisen and Khajuraho.
These models will be used to encourage the government to replicate
WaterAid's work to help achieve total sanitation coverage.
WaterAid will train service providers, helping them to realise
their responsibilities in providing services and good governance.
The government of India is attempting to create City Development
Plans and City Sanitation Plans, but efforts are hampered through
poor governance and the low capacity of Urban Local Bodies to plan,
implement and sustain these efforts.
In both rural and urban projects, community based organisations
will be trained, providing the knowledge and skills required to
assist in the planning processes for WASH projects, to monitor the
provision of services from government providers and give
communities the confidence to hold providers to account if schemes
are not delivered effectively.
WaterAid uses advocacy to gain understanding and support from
social and political leaders, who are encouraged to increase
finances to the WASH sector, targeting the poorest people.
Awareness-raising campaigns are used to increase accountability and
transparency amongst local government departments for the provision
of effective WASH schemes.
Case study
Chinnavilai village in the Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu,
India, was one of many coastal villages affected by the Tsunami in
2003. WaterAid and local partner AWED worked in ten villages in
this district of Tamil Nadu from 2006 to 2008. The first year of
the project focused on reconstructing and creating water and
sanitation facilities to address the immediate need. This was
followed by hygiene promotion.
The project also introduced solid waste management, encouraging
communities to stop open defecation to further improve the
conditions of the local environment and reduce disease. The
community pay Rs20 (around £0.30) per month per household for the
service to cover the salaries of the workers who collect and
dispose of the waste. Latrines were subsidised, with households
paying a proportion of the cost and assisting with
construction.
WaterAid visited the area again in 2011 and caught up with some
of the residents to see how things had progressed since the
projects were completed.
At St Joseph's Pre School in Chinnavilai village the children
are taught the ten hygiene commandments:
Brush your teeth in the morning and at night
Take a bath using soap
Cut your nails and keep your hands clean
Wash your hands with soap before eating
Wear sandals while going to the toilet
Wash hands with soap after going to the toilet
Wear clean clothes
Keep surroundings clean
Wear sandals when going outside
Eat food which has been kept covered and prepared properly
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