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NGO helps rural Bengal get water, sanitation facilities

Shagufta Kalim

Around the world, 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion are without adequate sanitation facilities. Every day, nearly 6,000 people who share our planet die from water-related illnesses, and the vast majority are children.

—Water for People

Water, or rather safe drinking water, is still a luxury in some parts of India and the world. While the struggle continues for many, there have been instances where the right kind of efforts have borne the right results.

Denver-based Water for People is one such organisation that assists people in developing countries improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities, health and hygiene education programmes.

The organisation is active in some of the African and Latin American countries and West Bengal in India. Through its many initiatives, Water for People is making clean water an accessible reality in West Bengal’s rural areas. The project started in 2005 and it has been showing the required results when and where it matters the most.

Speaking about the project, the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, including the Sunderban region, Rajashi Mukherjee, country co-ordinator, Water for People (India) said, "Local villagers who are adept at small repair jobs are selected to undergo a training on all types of existing water resources and equipped with a set of tools and basic spares. They enter into maintenance arrangements with communities sharing a water source. These water mechanics, locally known as jala bandhus, play the role of the mechanic and caretakers in the community, who provide professional services on regular and on time basis, against a fee for periodic and efficient maintenance of every water source in the village. In this particular district, they mostly maintain the tube-wells, which are the source of drinking water."

"The Sunderban area was severely affected by cyclone Aila earlier this year and it was these jala bandhus whose tireless efforts to revive the cyclone-damaged water sources saved many effected villages from diarrhoea epidemic," she said.

The idea to involve the locals and keep a close co-ordination with the local panchayat underlines the belief that water and sanitation problems are most effectively solved using local resources. "Local communities must be the driving force in all of our programmes to make sure solutions are sustainable," added Jyotirmoy Chakraborty, programme co-ordinator, Water for People. Regular workshops are conducted to update the mechanics with the new developments.

Recently as a token of appreciation, these water mechanics were felicitated for their post-Aila work at an event held in Kolkata. Highlighting the future course of action, Rajashi said, "On a wider scale, by 2011, Water For People programmes will provide 1,000 new people per day with sustainable water resources and improved sanitation facilities. We are hopeful of expanding our wordwide reach and focusing on other regions in India as well."