IND/10/011 - Safe drinking water for tribal and dalit communities

Country India
Total project budget ($USD) $5,079
Requested funding ($USD) $5,000
05/02/2010
Project development type Food, Nutrition and Health
Name of Requesting Association RIGHTS
Objective: To provide access to a steady and regular supply of safe drinking water for low-caste Tribal and Dalit communities; build socio-economic awareness among them on water and sanitation; propagate socio-economic awareness leading to improved health and education.
Background: Tribal and Dalit caste people have no access to drinking water in the village. Their only alternative is to walk daily to the river. The situation is worsened during drought periods when even meagre supplies evaporate, the river runs dry, and seasonal rains are often delayed or never arrive. Cultivation of seasonal food crops for family consumption is thereby hampered. The project is aimed to ease the daily hazards of women and children who are forced to fetch water from afar. Since agricultural activity is essentially rain-based, manual labour on the land is unproductive and chances for earning a living become less. In such cases, many men and young boys are forced to migrate in search of any type of menial employment elsewhere. This has negative repercussions on the lives of children whose education is disrupted and may be totally lost. Small-scale agriculture is the main occupation of the people; they can only rely on borewells for irrigation and other short-term cultivation such as vegetable, flowers, green leaves and the like. Therefore women and children continue to gather around any remaining muddy patch on the dry river bed to scrape and dig with the hope of carrying home some little precious liquid. The Lead Agency RIGHTS has applied for financial help from the Fund to drill 2 borewells in each of the identified villages to extract water lying underground by the installation of pumps that would operate on electric and/or fuel power. The project has been assessed by Jippe Hoogeveen and approved as technically feasible. In addition, in response to a recommendation made by the Project Appraisal Group, the Lead Agency obtained and sent to the Fund a written agreement from the Grama Panchayat Office (local Village Council) which “ … agreed to bear expenses for maintenance and electricity for the supply of water to the two village community groups.” Although, the project request originates from an ‘over-subscribed’ area, the PAG considers it favourably for all of the aforesaid reasons.
Use of Funds: For purchase and installation of two borewells together with two motors for extraction and supply of pipe-borne water for daily use by beneficiaries in the two villages.
Beneficiaries: 400
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