Water security

Chittoor, an arid district in Andhra Pradesh, faces seasonal drought. This causes acute water scarcity, leading to very low drinking water availability. Dhan Vayalagam foundation has focuses on developing and renovating traditional water harvesting structures as an effective way to collect rainwater and recharge groundwater, and helps people access water through the summer months. This was done through:

Scanty rainfall coupled with a lack of groundwater often leads to acute water scarcity in parts of Western Rajasthan. Anchored by village level institutions, Sambhaav has begun reviving traditional water harvesting systems which had benefited the local communities in the area.

Scanty rainfall coupled with a lack of groundwater often leads to acute water scarcity in parts of Western Rajasthan. Anchored by village level institutions, Sambhaav has begun reviving traditional water harvesting systems which had benefited the local communities in the area.

Two villages in Karnataka were selected to be developed as models for domestic water management. The project ensured integrated domestic water management, including access to piped metered water, sanitation and ensured sustainability at the source. Wastewater management through drains, soak pits and kitchen gardens was done to ensure safe disposal of waste water. EcoSan was established as an option for sanitation tried at certain scale in the project. Conjunctive water use was promoted through rooftop rainwater harvesting.

Depleting groundwater levels in the Gaya district were putting high stress on the agriculture-dependent communities of the region. Through the use of rainwater harvesting technologies, over the two phases of the project, Arghyam supported DISHA in reducing the vulnerability of these communities to droughts. The burden on women who previously travelled long distances to fetch water was reduced significantly by providing them easy access to water. Schools also became self-sufficient with access to harvested rainwater.

In 2009, Vishaka Jilla Nava Nirmana Samiti (VJNNS) took up an initiative in six villages inhabited by landless people. These villages have poor or no access to basic infrastructure facilities like electricity and the government’s water supply systems have failed to work because of improper site selection, poor ground water quality (rich in iron content), poor quality of construction and equipment used.

This project was an initiative conceived by students from the National Institute of Technology-Karnataka, who started a group called Sparsh in collaboration with Gajani Foundation. The project sought to ensure water security in a coastal village with high saline intrusion. Arghyam‘s role in this project partnership was to promote community rainwater harvesting so as to provide potable water to the people.

Outputs

1. Around 5 community rainwater harvesting structures were built.
2. Over Rs. 5 lakh was leveraged from multiple sources

The Supreme Court ordered that across states, all schools must be provided with toilets and drinking water facilities as part of students’ Right to Education. Arghyam considers sustainable access to safe drinking water an important issue and has promoted it across Karnataka.

This has been done through several methods:

High propensity to drought and rapid soil erosion triggered by high intensity rainfall and high wind speeds leads to sub-optimal storage of water in the Ratlam district. Through the use of watershed interventions the project was able to improve sub-surface water availability. The project also assessed utilisation potential and set up dug wells on the basis of hydro geological understanding.

One third of the state of Maharashtra is drought prone as it falls in the rain shadow belt and receives erratic showers. The project examined ways to enhance implementation of drinking water and sanitation projects to create an Integrated Domestic Water Management (IDWM) model for replication in villages prone to water scarcity. Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) worked on an integrated watersheds approach in the villages, which was useful in strengthening and protecting the water source.