ISSUES & CONCERNS
Inspiring story of a village in Madhya Pradesh
The 200-odd residents of Didakhedi, a sleepy village just 13 km from Sehore town in Madhya Pradesh, never had adequate water. Two decades ago, most of the farming in the village was done during the monsoons. The village had no electricity and a lone diesel pump operated the shallow dug wells to irrigate some land during the winter. The shallow wells, their only source of water, would turn dry during the scorching summer months, leaving the people distressed.
Once the village got electricity, farmers began drilling tube-wells to irrigate their fields and ground water was depleted faster than it could be replenished. Drinking water was the first casualty. The four hand-pumps and two bore-wells installed by the government in the village started drying up and became unreliable. As the shallow wells dried up, they were no longer maintained and went into disuse. This forced the women to fetch water from distant places. It wasted their time and took a toll on their health.
A Bhopal-based development support organization, Samarthan, decided to work on a rights-based approach to ensure water security for all. A one-year development plan was prepared with Samarthan’s help. Today, the villagers swell with pride as they talk about the successful community-run piped water supply scheme they own. Their first priority was to make the surroundings free of open defecation, because the women did not feel safe when they went to relieve themselves. However, to make toilets within their homes a reality, they needed to have household-level water supply. This made them realize that both sanitation efforts and construction needed to happen simultaneously.
“The gram sabha (village committee) passed a resolution to provide tap connections to those households who had by the defined date constructed their toilets,” says Santoshi Tiwari, Samarthan, Sehore. Samarthan helped them design the tank and also helped in purchasing the right material so that they could keep the cost of the toilets low (between Rs 5000 and Rs 10000). Rambha Bai was among the first to get a toilet constructed. She was followed by 15 more households.
Now, all households in Didakhedi have tap connections, thus relieving women of the drudgery of fetching water. Groundwater is pumped into a 9500-litre overhead tank and then channeled to the taps.
Winning community buy-in was the key to the project’s success. The committee that was set up to oversee the day-to-day functioning of the scheme collects Rs 60 a month towards operation and maintenance, and electricity bills. The money is collected six months in advance. To keep the costs low, the people take turns to operate the motor instead of hiring a pump operator. Each family takes the responsibility to switch on and switch off the system, and to open and close the valves for a month.
The villagers did their homework and, through the panchayat, put forth a proposal to the Public Health Engineering Department to implement a village water security plan. The community first calculated the current and projected demand and supply. They then developed a plan to ensure long term water availability. Check dams, gully plugs and contour trenches are being built to conserve water and prevent soil erosion.
The work in Didakhedi continues to influence several neighbouring gram panchayats to adopt the same process.
Amita Bhaduri
Once water-deficient, Didakhedi in Madhya Pradesh is now a village with year-round water supplyThe 200-odd residents of Didakhedi, a sleepy village just 13 km from Sehore town in Madhya Pradesh, never had adequate water. Two decades ago, most of the farming in the village was done during the monsoons. The village had no electricity and a lone diesel pump operated the shallow dug wells to irrigate some land during the winter. The shallow wells, their only source of water, would turn dry during the scorching summer months, leaving the people distressed.
Once the village got electricity, farmers began drilling tube-wells to irrigate their fields and ground water was depleted faster than it could be replenished. Drinking water was the first casualty. The four hand-pumps and two bore-wells installed by the government in the village started drying up and became unreliable. As the shallow wells dried up, they were no longer maintained and went into disuse. This forced the women to fetch water from distant places. It wasted their time and took a toll on their health.
A Bhopal-based development support organization, Samarthan, decided to work on a rights-based approach to ensure water security for all. A one-year development plan was prepared with Samarthan’s help. Today, the villagers swell with pride as they talk about the successful community-run piped water supply scheme they own. Their first priority was to make the surroundings free of open defecation, because the women did not feel safe when they went to relieve themselves. However, to make toilets within their homes a reality, they needed to have household-level water supply. This made them realize that both sanitation efforts and construction needed to happen simultaneously.
“The gram sabha (village committee) passed a resolution to provide tap connections to those households who had by the defined date constructed their toilets,” says Santoshi Tiwari, Samarthan, Sehore. Samarthan helped them design the tank and also helped in purchasing the right material so that they could keep the cost of the toilets low (between Rs 5000 and Rs 10000). Rambha Bai was among the first to get a toilet constructed. She was followed by 15 more households.
Now, all households in Didakhedi have tap connections, thus relieving women of the drudgery of fetching water. Groundwater is pumped into a 9500-litre overhead tank and then channeled to the taps.
Winning community buy-in was the key to the project’s success. The committee that was set up to oversee the day-to-day functioning of the scheme collects Rs 60 a month towards operation and maintenance, and electricity bills. The money is collected six months in advance. To keep the costs low, the people take turns to operate the motor instead of hiring a pump operator. Each family takes the responsibility to switch on and switch off the system, and to open and close the valves for a month.
The villagers did their homework and, through the panchayat, put forth a proposal to the Public Health Engineering Department to implement a village water security plan. The community first calculated the current and projected demand and supply. They then developed a plan to ensure long term water availability. Check dams, gully plugs and contour trenches are being built to conserve water and prevent soil erosion.
The work in Didakhedi continues to influence several neighbouring gram panchayats to adopt the same process.
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