Attam Pahar finds a way quench its’ thirst!

Location: Attam Pahar, DollyGunj Panchayat
Total Population: 800 plus
Beneficiary Population: 18 families (80 members)

Brief Background:

In order to build residential colonies for defense personnel the slum at Buniyadabad was cleared and relocated at Attam Pahar. They were given 175 Sqm of forest land for each family where they cleared the land built own homes. In two batches they were evacuated one in 1999 another 2001.

Attam Pahar is also called Birsa Nagar inhabited by Ranchi Community (settler from Jharkhand State, they have tribal status in Jharkhand but not in Andaman) from different religious background. Most of the villagers are daily labors many working with private companies and few under Government Department.

Community on their own …

The standard of living is poor, among their many problems like Education, Health, about inter community relationship, water scarcity stands out. Though the village has public pipe system, in summer water is supplied every third day or every fifth day. There are occasion when people will have to maintain queue for day and night and in watch for piped water supply. Women and Children are most affected they will have to walk about half an hour through the jungle to fetch water from the sources in the nearby defense area. Defense area is protected and beyond the reach of the civilians yet they risk arrest to fetch water.

Flood during road repair: In 2003 when the road was being laid the drain in low lying area got choked and flood like situation arose and few houses were also affected. The existing Diggi (open well with mud walls) also collapsed. This added their water woes. The relationship among the community was poor and they lacked motivation to come together and work for their needs.

EHA Water Project facilitates …

Emmanuel Hospital Association water project is involved with the community since Aug 2007 by way of

ü Water resource Mapping

ü Awareness program on water

ü Community Based Water Management Training

ü Formation of water committee

ü Implementation of bore well.

ü Training on repair & maintenance of Hand pump

Rehabilitation of existing well...

The project when engaged in consultation the community brought forth the idea of restoring the lost Diggi (open well with mud walls). By the time the villagers had dug 7 feet deep in an effort to restore the Diggi. The community agreed to come together and contribute materials, labors & skills. An approximate estimation of their contribution shows;

• Labour 150 man-day @ Rs. 130 /day Rs. 19500/-


• Gravel 3 m³ @ Rs. 1500/ m³ Rs. 4500/-


• Hollow Block 30 @ Rs. 15/ Pc Rs. 450/-

That is almost equal share of contribution from the project.

Transformation results…

The community now understands the importance of unity and motivating others also to come together. The project team is able see the changes in the life of the community people, who has come a long way from thinking for themselves to thinking and acting for community. Attam Pahar was a place where SHG functioning and community participation had been poor but after the intervention of the project a village water committee is functional and community participation has gathered momentum. Somebody said “Water is life” but surly water has brought changes in peoples’ life. Now thought through facilitation of EHA Water Project the villagers themselves have brought water to their thirsting village.

Existing well.

Carrying cement.

Work in progress

Parangara Case Study

Parangara was one of the target villages of the pilot phase of the project and is located in North Andaman. It has a mixed population of Ranchi and Bengali people. Our volunteers tried to organize village groups but found it difficult to convince these two groups to work together. This situation persisted for quite sometime until a large village meeting was called. During the meeting the two groups decided to come together to address the water crisis in their village. We now have two village groups functioning which have pledged to come alongside EHA in addressing their water problems. The representatives of these groups also took part in a construction training workshop, which also provided a space for members of the two communities to come together.

Adapted from the 2007, 2nd Quarter Progress Report.

Radhanagar-Lalit Katai Case Study

The word ‘Katai’ in Hindi refers to a cleared forest area. Lalit Katai is a remote village in the Radhanagar area in North Andaman District (Diglipur region). It has a population of 63 people. Villagers used to drink untreated water which they collect from a stream. Diseases like diarrhea and jaundice were commonly reported. Intervention by EHA through provinging water treatment systems brought a significant transformation in the lives of people in ‘Katai’. This has not happened overnight but over a period of time with persistent efforts from the project staff who have encouraged and motivated them to use treated water for drinking. This was accompleshed through regular home visit and awareness programs. Villagers have been responsive and participated very well. Distributing filters to every household allowed everyone to drink clean water. Now every home is treating drinking water through a combination of the filter system and boiling. Not only the elders but even the children seemed to have understood the advantages of drinking clean water.

Addapted from the Dec 2007 3rd Quarter Progress Report.

The Origin of the Andaman Water Project

The Andaman Water Project is a Disaster Management Unit of EHA (Emmanuel Hospital Association). The Andaman Islands were hit by the Dec 2004 tsunami, and soon thereafter EHA started a community health project known as The Asha Sagar Project. From their village surveys it quickly realized that many of those effected by the tsunami did not have access to a clean source of drinking water. So that Andaman Water Project was started to try to increase the quality, quantity and proximity of clean water to those people.