Water & Sanitation
Poor hygiene, inadequate quantities and quality of drinking water and lack of sanitation facilities cause millions of the world's poorest people to die from preventable diseases each year. Lack of clean water and sanitation is the important risk factor in terms of global burden of disease, after mal nutrition. Women and children are the main victims. Orissa one of the poorest states of India since 1979. Orissa has a population of closed to 37 million of which 86% live in Rural areas(Census 2001).Less than 20% of the rural population of Orissa has access to protected water, less than 1% to piped water supply, and less than 5% to sanitation. The reason behind chronic poverty and under development in Orissa ,is due to non privileges of proper hygiene practice and proper sanitary provision in rural areas India it is found in early 90’s that ill-health and loss of productivity life are among the root causes. Over 80% of the instances of morbidity and mortality are caused by unhygienic practice an abysmal attitude towards disposal of human waste and the resultant wide spread contamination of drinking water. Lack of access to safe drinking water is a major cause of ill health and loss of productivity. Phasing water is traditionally is a major chore for women and girl children, adding to their long days of toil equally, if not more not important, for woman is the lack of access to sanitation facilities, especially in the plains and during the monsoon season. Caught in trap rural communities believe that they were destined to ill health and poverty. BISWA has striven to prove that communities can lead a healthy and dignified life by working together to address the issue of water supply and sanitation.
BISWA has a vision:
- To provide drinking water and sanitation facilities to every rural household to develop quality of life in our state through collaboration with Government of Orissa and India in its different programme.
- BISWA will ensure that each house hold in its operational area will have access to safe drinking water and convenient sanitary facilities through water and sanitation programme.
- Every house hold should be equipped with separate sanitary facilities and should have a source of clean and safe drinking water.
- Hygiene promotion in school to create condition where children themselves are agents of change in their families, community and living environment
BISWA has been identified as a Key Resource Center of Orissa State Water and Sanitation Mission for eight districts: Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sonepur, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Boudh under the Total Sanitation Campaign. It works with government and other partners to create conditions for change-or enabling environments to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of all water and sanitation campaign.
The Broad Program Components of BISWA:
- IEC Campaign: Lack of proper sanitation is also major challenge in the rural area. Provision of safe drinking water will not serve the purpose of ensuring health and hygiene in the rural area if the water is contaminated after being taken from the safe source and used for drinking water purpose. Hence, an integrated approach is required for water and sanitation for maintaining the health and hygiene in the rural area. BGVS (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti) BBSR have been selected to act as State Co-coordinating Agency for IEC project.
- Installation of Individual Household Latrines (IHL)
- Building up community level infrastructure for sanitation
Our approach is an integrated water resource perspective that ensures- social, economic, environmental and technical dimensions those are taken into account in the management and development of water resources. Effective water resource management programme can improve water supply for irrigation and households, provide power, mitigate floods, and help manage the complex web of water uses. They can also play an important role in climate change-as a tool to help countries adapt to evolving hydrologic conditions and to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
Awareness Campaign as we have envisaged:
- Contaminated water if is consumed may result in water-borne diseases including viral hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, dysentery and other diseases that cause diarrhea .
- Without adequate quantities of water for personal hygiene, skin and eye infections (trachoma) spread easily.
- Water-based diseases and water-related water-borne diseases can result from water supply projects (including dams and irrigation structures) that inadvertently provide habitats for mosquitoes and snails that are intermediate hosts of parasites that cause malaria, schistomsomisis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and Japanese encephalitis.
- Drinking water supplies that contain high amounts of certain chemicals (like arsenic and nitrates) can cause serious disease.
- Check reckless Over-Consumption and misuse
- Restrict pollution of Natural water
- Restrict pollution of under ground water
- Check depletion of under ground water level
This will help to enhance the knowledge for conservation of fresh water a necessity of now a day. Otherwise tomorrow will be grim, drier and barren to live through, needless to say that there are a number of steps which can be undertaken to minimize wastage of water resources and to make more efficient use of available water.
Access to Water and Sanitation:
As a Key Resource Center, BISWA is also bestowed with the responsibility of imparting training stakeholders at various levels e.g., Block level official, the PRI members, community leaders etc BISWA has been identified as a Key Resource Centre by Rural Development Dept. of Orissa and Orissa State Water and Sanitation Mission Bhubaneswar a training on Block level stake holder on TSC has been conducted successfully from 17th Aug to 21st Aug 2006. By the end of May 2006-07, BISWA has covered 80 nos. of villages in 30 Grampanchayats in the 13 districts and has constructed 2000 directly with the community; BISWA helps to ensure that households have access to a clean and secure supply of water, and safe and convenient sanitary facilities. Through hygiene promotion and sanitation programs, BISWA works towards maximizing the health benefits, focusing in particular on the survival, growth, and development of young children .
Management activities:
Monitoring and Evaluation:
Sanitation of the urban limits is a mandate of the local self-governance system, the Municipality/ Notified Area Council (NAC). Working in association with these bodies in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Hirakud and Brajarajnagar, BISWA has undertaken all the sanitation activities. The sanitary workers are formed into Self Help Groups and they are no more the employees. What they do is what they own. The sanitation activities wards (divisions of these urban bodies) under control of BISWA are done with more sincerity & involvement and incur less expense the construction and implementation of water and sanitation activities under take by the BISWA SHGs as a leading force in all areas. The entire activities/programme is bestowed to the SHGs for its successful implementation of water Supply &Sanitation program. Riding on the experience of 100% consensus and working together Water and Sanitation, communities build up experiential learning of collective organization and management. The initiation of programme is subject to the generation of beneficiaries’ contribution by the village as labour, materials, cash and kind ensure by the SHG/Village Committee. Biswa provided the micro credit facilities to the SHGs for Construction of Toilets (low cost Latrine) and also provided the loan for drinking Water program for both BPL as well as APL families in rural areas to make 100% coverage in healthy sanitation provision. SHG comprise of Women, and women comprise at least 50% of the village are enable to fully and confidently participate in all village decision making activities, where women play leadership role. The management activities is under taken by the village Health Water Sanitation Committee, consisting members of Self Help Groups and PRI members of village with the close collaboration with agency(BISWA)and also provided sanitation loan through SHG/VWSC to make 100% success of the programme by BISWA Micro Finance activities. BISWA already constructed 2000 IHL in different rural village of different district of Orissa.
The process of monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation programme conducted accordingly, close coordination with the district officials Executive Engineer(RWSS), Govt. of Orissa, Govt of India and ours friends NRIs. They provided technical guidance in the above field. We coordinate with the village SHGs and PRI members and entrusted all the responsibility to the village health water and sanitation mission for its maintenance and use.