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.