Scaling Up With Swajal

A Team of young enthusiastic journalists visited Swajal Project-I in October 2002 and showed eagerness to inspect and assess the impact of community based rural water supply projects.  They were taken round the Swajal villages implemented by a NGO - HIHT. The article on the field visit to Swajal villages was published in the issue of October 27, 2002 in the Deccan Herald Sunday Spotlight by Lakshime Salgaune.  It’s extract is reproduced below:

In the tiny hamlet of Bandawali, Munni Devi’s day has just begun.  As the tender sun peeps from behind the hills that surround her home, she has just returned from fetching her first pot of water for the day. Three kms behind the hill in her backyard is located a small stream which suffices for her water need.  "This is just beginning, I have to go back at least seven times, "she says.

By 10 in the morning, she has finally completed the ordeal for the day – all the water drums are full. But her day is far from over. She has to immediately go in search of fodder for cattle, firewood for the kitchen.  Two other women join her.  The three of them have an arduous hours trek to reach the forest folds.  30 years old Munni Devi has been hospitalised twice. Doctors says the only cure is rest "Who will run my house if I lie down ? she asks. Munni Devi is not alone. Most women in Garhwal and Kumaon ranges in Garhwal and Kumaon are inhospitable Ironically, though these places are known for their icy streams, today safe drinking water become a rare commodity. For the women who take responsibility of the household ( as most men are employed away from home in the plains and return only for short duration), each day revolves round the business of fetching water. It is the hardest part of the day.

Keeping this pitiable plight in the mind, it so seems that somebody has finally noticed.  And for the women in these hill regions, there seems enough reason for hope.  For across the rugged landscape of Garhwal and Kumaon, in the tiny hill tucked state of Uttaranchal, a massive project is underway which hopes to bring water to the doorstep of every home in the hills. Swajal the World Bank assisted Uttaranchal (UA) Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Project in coordination with NGO’s and village communities is the first community driven water supply and sanitation programme that is being successfully implemented in the villages of Uttaranchal aimed to ensure community ownership for the facility provided, keeping in mind long term sustainability of the programme.  The Swajal project also aim at testing and validating an alternative service delivery mechanism thereby emphasizing on a demand responsive approach. With the help of NGO’s the project has been able to successfully strength rural community to plan, implement and maintain their water supply and sanitation scheme. Swajal was conceived on the premises that the UP Jail Nigam, which was in charge to set up rural water supply system, was ineffective on ground.

The project is transparent and thrusts maximum power in the hands of the community, where in villagers for the first time are made aware, that the facilities provided are their own and its maintenance is essentially their concern, as against expecting somebody from the government to maintain the infrastructure.  It has a three- fold structure, which thrives on interdependence.  "When the village water and sanitation committee (VWSC) was formed in our village everybody was skeptical.  But slowly with the help of staff of Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, we have been able to implement Swajal. We never thought we were capable of bringing water to our doorstep "says Chandrakala whose home is locate at the high end of Kainsur almost touching the clouds. VWSC’s are the grassroots structures for the effective implementation of Swajal.  They plan implement and ultimately manage the water and sanitation scheme. The VWSC which consists of 7 to 12 members, is democratically elected and representatives with a minimum of 20 % representation from the socially and economically backward section of the community and at least 30 % women members. The formation of VWSC’s is mobilized by the supporting NGO’s. Swajal’s innovation also lies in identifying non-government organization as coherent partners in the process of social change.  For the first time in the country a project has had three-figure heads- the government, a funding agency and the parallel change seekers.  The NGO’s work as a team in absolute synchrony to be led by the beneficiaries’ themselves- the rural community.  The Project Management Unit (a registered society consisting of people from both private and public sector formed to monitor the implementation of the project at the state level) is given the task of identifying NGO’s to sub contract areas for the implementation of Swajal.  The NGOs further assess the need and demand for the project thereby liaison at two ends (both with PMU and VWSC) working as catalyst for success.

The community either in cost, labour or kind ploughs 10% of the capital cost of the project.  "Earlier, before Swajal through the government had given us pipeline, they were just destroyed.  And as usual, though we lodged a complaint, nobody came and repaired it.  But now we are so cautious simply because we have worked our soul out to fix it.  Nobody dare touch the taps or the pipes" cautions Ram Lal, a resident of Bandawali where Swajal has now been implemented. At each level right from conception to the post implementation maintenance stage a striking feature of the project is immense power being vested in the hand of the local community through its democratically formed VWSC. While the NGOs remain facilitator and catalyst, communities are empowered with the right to choose the kind of technology they'd like to use to bring home to their doorstep.  "In our area we have a big river flowing in the valley.  But most of homes are situated on steep hill slopes.  So engineers from HIHT after feasibility study presented us with 3-4 options.  With their help we discussed the cost and finally agreed to use the Gravity Scheme with which the operation and maintenance (O & M) cost were coming up to Rs. 15/ month/household" explains Usha, who is a member of the VWSC Kainsur.

Finally post implementation VWSC finalized on their individuals tariffs to suffice for maintenance need and thereby responsible for the effective functioning of the system.

At the village selection stage, there is a big incentive for communities to join the project since it is very difficult for them obtain any other source of financing for a water supply scheme. At the planning stage there is a strong incentive to choose the least cost technology, since they have to share in capital cost and also pay for its O & M. In the implementation phase the incentive to procure good quality materials and services for construction is strong because it is the community, which benefits most from a well-constructed and functional water supply scheme.

The gender sensitive structure of Swajal ensuring that women, whose lives it has benefited the most have decision-making power has been groundbreaking in approach.

An integral part of Swajal is also the awareness campaigns intended by the VWSC wherein the supporting NGOs coordinate with health experts to discuss with the community dangers of water born illness, the need for hygiene and sanitation etc.

             

As Swajal is implemented across Uttaranchal with a significantly high success rate, other states are keen on replicating the success story.  Most States are undertaking pilot projects to design a model for their State. As the government of Karnataka vows commitment to rural development, a leaf out of the Uttaranchal diary on Swajal would indeed help the water scarce district of our state as well.