Bore Well Survey Rpeort - Andaman

Andaman receives 3000mm rainfall annually inspite of this it runs dry during summer. Water technologies that will work in the Island is not well documented. The following document is an effort to identify why bore wells or do not work in the Island.

Thanks for the hard work of Daniel Shelter & Anand Kumar. Good work guys!

-Dennyson

Borewell Survey Report - Andaman

Household Water Filters through Microfinance

Attamphad

Mayabunder

Roglachang

Rangat

Kadamtala

Diglipur

Water 24 x 7

Case study of a small jungle village and their quest for water

In the recently concluded National water seminar at Port Blair Chief Secretary, A & N Islands in his valedictory address noted that it is not in his notice so far that there are any water issues in Island. It is an Irony! (I was thinking in my mind, he is new to the Island; he will have to wait till his first summer then nobody needs to brief him of the water situation in the Islands.)

Fetching Water...........
Our experience in Andaman as Water Project team has been different. Here is one such story! Roglachang is a village in south Andaman, about nine kilometers from main Baratang town. Baratang Island is known among the tourist for lime stone cave, volcanoes, and beaches, yet for this village they are far from this dream world of travelers. To reach the village we have to trek 30 minutes into the jungle from the road. They are small population of 72 people (or 12 families) consisting of Ranchi community a people group who have moved and settled here from Jharkhand State, India – mainland. They had come as contract labourers four decades ago for the local administration, government of India. Their main source of livelihood now is agricultural farming. They have one Anganwadi (government sponsored child and mother care centre) but without any drinking water facility. There are 2 Self Help Group which is functional by the initiatives of Emmanuel Hospital Association.

They too were reeling under water scarcity. They wondered whom they would approach for help. Local Administration has given a deaf ear to their cries. They depended on a ring well which turns brackish once rain stops and eventually dries up. The women carry their pots and walked almost 2kms into the jungle in search of small sources for water. They had to stop farming during summer. While some chose to move out of the village to work as daily labourers, few just stay at home trying to make their ends meet. Was there hope for these people?

Hand driven Bore well in progress

In 2007, when the water project initiated the dialogue with the groups, there was a warm welcome a ray of hope for them. We had series of community meetings and awareness program with them. Through the cooperation of the community hand driven bore hole was made and a hand pump was installed with a depth of 57 feet. But to everyone disappointment it delivered brackish water.

But the villagers did not loose hope. They came up with a idea of a check dam by the stream. Location was identified. And community started construction. Reaching the materials itself was a challenge as there was no road to the village. Cement, sand, gravel & steel had to be carried by women and young people from roadside to the site, while men started the construction. To their surprise there was an objection from the Forest Ranger. He threatened to register a case against the people if the materials (sand and gravel) are not bought from him. It seemed as if it was like the end of the road. It was an uphill task for our project officers and the team even as they kept the communities encouraged and united. United, the women and men as a group represented their case to the District Forest Officer (DFO) with whose intervention permission was granted and check dam was constructed to everyone’s joy and relief. An extraction bore well also was installed on the down stream at about 50 m from the checkdam at a depth of 30 feet which delivers ample fresh water.
Water 24 x 7...
Through the project five village water committee(VWC) members have been provided with household water treatment systems called PureIt. This system meets the stringent international criteria of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) USA for microbiologically safe water. The members will payback the cost in installments to the VWC so that the rest of the members and villagers also can avail this system for their home.


Checkdam..
Now the checkdam delivers water for drinking as well as for small level farming even during dry season. Summer has arrived and water supply has been curtailed; Public Works Department (PWD) and the Chief Secretary are having series of meetings to discuss the drinking water issue. From reliable sources we come to know that they have even taken up the recommendations from the National Water Seminar for discussions.

Video Documentary

The Project is shooting a Video Documentary on the water situation of the Andaman Islands. Three products will come out of this effort. The first will be a 30 minute documentary on the water issues facing the islands, the unique factors involved and how the Government and NGO's are working to solve these problems. The second product is 7 minute condensed version of the first and the final, 7 minute, product will focus on the work of the Andaman Water Project.

Abel from AlfredAllanAdvertising, Delhi has been hired to shoot the footage and do the editing work.

The first place to shoot was Ross Island where the British used a desalinization plant (now rusted ) to make the seawater drinkable.

Ross Island also happens to be a beautiful island with aging ruins from the British Empire that has been retaken by the forest.

Monday the team woke up extra early to catch the 4:30am Sunrise over Carbyn's Cove.

After getting his wireless mic set up
Dennyson (the Project Manager)...

...went on to describe the soil layers found on the Andaman islands, and why more then 3 meters of annual rainfall still doesn't produce much of an aquifer.

Then it was time to interview benificeries of a ringwell EHA had made in Attam Pahar.

And then film women collecting water from a bore well and hand pump that EHA has installed also in Attam Pahar.

The team has now set off on a week long tour of the islands to collect footage while Suman (Project officer) sets up interviews with Government officials and NGO's.

Khattakhari

Village: Khattakhari, Nilambur Panchayat, Baratang Island


Beneficiary name: Mr. Johnson Kujur (Male, 40)


The beneficiary community
Khattakhari is a small forest settlement with a population of 212 people. These are landless labourers from the state of Jharkhand who have come and settled here in the forest cleared off land doing farming. This settlement is cut off from the rest of the world. It can be reached only by trekking through the dense rain forest for two hours or one hour boating by dingy (country made boat) navigating through strait and open sea. Like the poor accessibility to any facility, this village also suffers water scarcity especially from the month of February to May. They depend on the katcha well (mud walled Open well) for all purposes. In the peak dry season people trek about a Kilometere into the jungle to fetch water. Because of water scarcity irrigation too is a problem; they are dependent on rain water.

The beneficiary
The condition of Johnson and family was not different from the community. He was also struggling with water scarcity. His family also depends on the katcha well for water which is about 700 m away from his house. During rain, outside water enters in the katcha well and makes it dirty. Johnson and his family know that the water is unsafe but they had no other option. There was not much support by the local governing bodies also.

EHA - The Facilitator
EHA has been working with the community for about a year in training in community based water management including rainwater harvesting and construction of household water filters. With the cooperation of the community a large rainwater harvesting tank of about 22,000 litres and a shallow bore well were constructed.

The changes that was evident
The shallow bore well that was installed gives them some relief and dried up during peak summer last year. Rainwater harvesting tank which was installed last year needed some repair. The trainings that Johnson received made him confident and he had fixed the rainwater harvesting tank with other villagers. The tank now has enough water - 22,000 litres and he uses it for drinking after treating it (boiling). Awareness program helped him on how to treat the water. Today he is leading and promoting the village people to use the available water after treating without any support by the project team.

Photo gallery

Regional seminar -Drinking water

" Water,Water everywhere and not a drop to drink"

Water for life

"The village"

Staff Retreat

The staff got together in Port Blair to recognize the hard work in often trying circumstances of the field staff. The first day was spent in Wandoor doing team building exercises and building communication skills.

Building communication and teamwork skills, Wandoor.

The second day the staff kicked back and enjoyed a day at Redskin Island. Activities included volleyball, a game called "Dog and the bone" and snorkeling. With the weekend in Port Blair coming to a close the field staff will return to their locations to resume their work.

Beach Volleyball with no net requires mediation skills, Redskin Island.