i quarter progress report may july, 2014 surya project flow west and provide drinking water to the...

Backwardness Alleviation:

Convergent, Collective, Community Change Programme

for

Water, Sanitation, Food, Livelihood and Bio-diversity Security

in

3 Backward Blocks of Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu

A Citizen-led Experiment using 6- Resource Framework for Strategising Backwardness

Alleviation in Mokhada Block of Thane District, Maharashtra, Muniguda Block of

Rayagada District, Odisha and Veppur Block of Perambalur District, Tamil Nadu

I Quarter Progress Report

May – July, 2014

Submitted to UNDP

26th Sep.2014

Barefoot Academy of Governance

4/7, 2nd Floor, VNK Building, Errabalu Chetty Street, Chennai – 600001 Email: [email protected] Website: www.barefootgovernance.org

Phone: 044-42621386

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.barefootgovernance.org/

I Quarter Progress Report submitted to UNDP

May – July, 2014


“Faith is taking the first step even

when you don't see the whole

staircase.”

~ Martin Luther King Jr.


May – July, 2014


We submit below the I quarter progress report of work undertaken in the three

blocks of Mokhada in Thane District, Maharashtra, Muniguda in Rayagada district in

Odisha and Veppur in Perambalur District of Tamil Nadu.

Mokhada Block of Thane District in Maharashtra

I Quarterly Report – May to July, 2014

I Quarter – Approved Plan of Action

1. Jan Yatras of Youth & Activists to motivate pada/hamlet communities to adopt

resolutions to declare themselves independent villages as per provisions of Sec 4 of

the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Rules

2014 and enabling participatory, consensus based democratic decision making.

2. The Jan Yatras will culminate in a convention to bring people and potential partners

from the academia, NGOs and government functionaries together and form a

platform which can take responsibility for taking the water rights campaign

forward.

3. The monsoon period, when the villagers are busy with cultivation, will be utilized

for identification of and insitu training of potential block level anchors, women

leaders, change makers, community mobilizers, youth volunteers, school children,

teachers and Panchayat members and sarpanches on rights based perspectives to

water, convergent community consciousness, leadership and social mobilization

skills through workshops, village camps, exposure/ exchange visits where possible.

Mokhada Water Rights Campaign & Convention

Introduction

Mokhada taluka (block) at the north eastern end of Thane district is considered

the most backward block of Thane district and one of the most backward blocks of

Maharashtra. Thane district located to the immediate north of Mumbai is an

industrial powerhouse with extensive industrialization spread over Thane, Kalyan,

Bhiwandi, Vada, Palghar and Boisar blocks. The northern part of the district houses

a large tribal population and is covered under the provisions of the Vth Schedule to

the Constitution. The central, western and southern blocks of the district, with large

agricultural lowlands are in the hands of various peasant communities and a


May – July, 2014


smattering of tribal villages, which are a major source of agricultural labour. The

northern tracts of the district are majorly hilly and forested with a tribal population

which consists of the Mahadev Kolis, Malhar Kolis, Koknas, Thakars, Warlis,

Katkaris and Dor Kolis. With the exception of the Mahadev Kolis, the erstwhile

rulers of Ahmednagar, Goti and Jawahar, who own a significant proportion of the

fertile lowlands in the block, a large section of the tribal cultivators possess scrub

land on the undulating slopes, where the forests were extensively cut down to meet

the needs of railway expansion, divesting both the land and its people of major

survival resources. Located at the remote corner of the district, the block attracted

little or no attention of the rulers and lay stagnant for decades, as a bountiful source

of footloose1 labour accessed by the expanding agricultural economy of Nashik to

the east and Vada to the south as well as unskilled labour for the industries in

Nashik, Kalyan and Thane. The poorer sections lived a hand to mouth existence

between migrations.

The migrations of the male heads of families, combined with the fragmented

communities and a fractured polity contributed in no small way to the emergence of

a relatively docile, undemanding population with circumscribed hopes, curtailed

expectations, increasing drudgery and a growing sense of fatalism among the de

facto women headed households in the block.

Scarcity as a Constructed Political Reality in Mokhada

Mokhada block consists predominantly of hills with narrow valleys, constituting

the foothills of the Sahayadri range of the Western Ghats. The Vatvad hill ridge, a

distinct feature of the block, is the source of 5 major rivers, the sacred Godavari

river flowing to the east and impounded by numerous dams on its route to the Bay

of Bengal, the Wagh river flowing to the west and impounded behind the Madhuban

dam in the tribal tracts of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and being

the major provider of fresh water to the urban-industrial of Vapi in Guarat and

Silvassa in the UT. Next come the Pinjal, the Tansa and the Vaitarna rivers flowing

from Mokhada to the south-west, their waters being impounded in numerous

places in Igatpuri, Vada and Shahapur blocks, inundating villages and fields of tribal

communities across the district and taken in huge pipes to Mumbai. The waters of

the Surya Project flow west and provide drinking water to the growing industrial

townships of Dahanu, Boisar and Palghar and the growing urban centers of Virar,

Vasai, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane and Bhayandar in addition to Mumbai. Hence the

rivers flowing from the tribal tracts are the drinking water providers for all the

urban-industrial centers from Vapi upto Mumbai. Ironically the villagers of

11

Footloose labour is a term that was used by Jan Bremen an eminent researcher and writer on the living and working

conditions of migrant tribal agricultural labour


May – July, 2014


Mokhada and several other tribal tracts are water starved and water supply is

provided through tankers for a good part of the summer.

The drinking water problem in Mokhada taluka (block) is man-made. Nature has

blessed the taluka with 2,700 mm of rainfall annually, but governments, through

acts of commission and omission, have created conditions of water deprivation and

drought. As forests have been cut down, rainwater fails to percolate slowly down

into the little soil that clings to the denuded hills. The defective use of the

Employment Guarantee Programs and Schemes has failed to address deforestation

and the loss of topsoil. No organized systematic plan has been envisaged or put in

place to create water holding structures which would also plug the gullies created

due to soil erosion. As a result, the plentiful rain clouds that unburden themselves

of their precious burden on the Vatvad Range before they climb onto the Deccan

Plateau are a waste as the water rushes down the gullies into the rivers, taking

mounds of valuable top soil and leaves the villages parched. A bounty of nature

turns into a curse.

On the other hand the Jal Swarajya Yojana (Water Self Governance Scheme) has

been an abysmal failure. There is neither Jal nor Swarajya in the villages. Millions

have been spent on the construction of tanks, laying of pipelines, creation of stand-

posts and other paraphernalia to no avail. While the overhead tanks are dry and

deteriorating, the pipelines have been dug out and sold as scrap. Tanks constructed

under the Shivkaalin Yojana, yet another water supply scheme, are also dry. Money

for the schemes is siphoned as matter of fact, the politician-contractors have

enriched themselves many times over and departed, while the villages continue to

remain dry. The irony is that the water providers for the family, the women carry

their burdens with stoic silence, the men are continuously migrating to keep the

home fires burning, the children enjoy moments of a watery paradise for a few

months before it becomes a parched land.

Annual Cycle of Water-Politics of Disempowerment

Every few years, one observes a huge hue and cry in the press. It is not difficult to

notice that the timings of the agitation have an uncanny link with electoral

timetables. Ministers visit the villages, make promises of a permanent solution to

the water woes of the villages and schemes are declared, sanctioned, but never

delivered. Water is good business and the 46 villages of Mokhada, with their

numerous hamlets, continue to be serviced by tankers owned by local politicians or

their associates, who make money out of peoples’ misery. A sinister game of hide

and seek plays itself out continuously with unfailing regularity every summer. As

water vanishes from the water bodies and the wells run dry, desperation provides


May – July, 2014


the opportunity for the artificial scarcity to be converted into big bucks and political

mileage.

Year after year, desperate villagers phone their panchayat presidents to provide

them water. Depending on the agenda of the panchayat president, whether he or

she wants to generate good will or reprimand the villagers for their lack of electoral

support, a tanker filled with water reaches the village, after a single or several calls.

The tanker is emptied into the empty well and the scramble to draw water begins.

The water that comes up is generally muddy, the earth at the bottom of the well

being churned by the water being drained out of the tanker, but thirst wins the day.

The tanker owner reports to the Block Development Office, the trip is recorded

for payment. This drama repeats itself with unfailing regularity and everybody is

happy, the politician has won a measure of loyalty, the villagers provided water, the

tanker lobby paid for one more trip and development administration receiving with

a tidy commission and with no end to the water crisis in sight. The cycle is repeated

day after day till the rains arrive with no lasting solution in sight and the citizens of

Mokhada turn their attention to tending to the crops. Ironically, with each water

tanker sent to their village, the citizens of Mokhada are content with the hollow

promises of a permanent solution to their water woes, succumb to the futility of

their hopes, grow content with palliatives and revert to the enforced helplessness.

Helplessness turns to futility turns to a meek surrender in turn to passivity and

finally to an enforced loss of hope of change, all conditions that are co-terminus

with backwardness.

Entrenching Helplessness - The State and its Actors

The state has created the drinking water crisis in Mokhada and thereafter

consistently failed to address it. The unstated reality is that of hundreds of piped

drinking water schemes have been planned, constructed and installed and are

functioning in Thane district, but not a single one is functional in Mokhada taluka.

On the other hand, the functionaries and the local political elite connive to allow the

loot of the block and its water resources. The Middle Vaitarna dam has just been

completed in the block to provide 455 million litres of water per day to Mumbai.

The proposed dam on the Pinjal river in the block will provide an additional 865

million litres of water when it is finally in place in the immediate future, while the

third one in the block on the Gargai river will provide another 440 MLD.

Yet no thought has been given by a welfare state to imposing a responsibility on

the residents of Mumbai through the Municipal Corporation to secure water to its

benefactors. Hence, while the residents of Mumbai have water at the turn of a tap,

the adivasis of Mokhada block trudge miles to scoop ‘cups’ of water from a hole


May – July, 2014


dug in the ground or climb down the precarious wall of the well to collect driblets of

water flowing out of crevices near the bottom. Life is one long struggle in a harsh

terrain, only collecting the basic needs is longer. The time and energy spent by the

residents of Mokhada robs its citizens, not only the minimal surplus they can eke

from the land, but also the opportunity cost of development, leaving them to survive

a thirsty existence of enforced backwardness.

Towards Water Rights, Stewardship and Citizenship

The Campaign that has been put in place with the water rights convention and

the adoption of the gravity delivery method is built around three axes. The first axis

is the ideological shift in the minds of the residents of Mokhada that water is a right

and not as a welfare measure or a service being provided to the village

communities. It was therefore necessary that the Campaign began with introducing

the concept of rights to water to the tribal communities, surviving at the margins,

who never visualized access to water as such.

In the minds of the tribal residents, water is largely seen as a basic necessity of

human survival or gift or bounty of nature. Human beings like all other life forms

have to expend energy to address this necessity. It is the duty of the women to make

it possible. In times of scarcity, though water as a luxury is enjoyed by a few, small

dregs are made available to the common man by the people in power. Interceding

with people in power was therefore necessary, rights to water was not part of their

narrative.

The challenge of the campaign was to create consciousness of rights and bring

water within this narrative, no easy task with an entrenched consciousness of the

contrary. The next step in the journey would be stewardship of water, implying the

communities create protocols, through deliberations leading to consensual

decisions to regulate equitable access to water as reduce wastage of the scarce

resource. The third part of our journey would be to integrate consciousness of

conservation, stewardship and re-use of water into the narrative of citizenship of

nature and its scarce resources.

The second challenge was to find an alternative solution that would be cost

effective, manageable by the tribal women and with low maintenance costs. The

residents of several villages in south Mokhada would look at the waters impounded

by the Upper Vaitarna with envy, but without an iota of anger when all the waters

were drained to the metropolis of Mumbai. The question in their minds was why

the Upper Vaitarna, which could be seen in the horizon from some of the villages

couldn’t provide them drinking water. No answer was forthcoming nor did they


May – July, 2014


press for an answer, their demand remained limited to water being ferried by

tankers.

The villagers reported that the engineering faculty of CITARA (IIT) had spoken of

the possibility of water supply from the Upper Vaitarna on the basis of google maps

which showed that all the villages in Mokhada were lower than the lowest

withdrawal level of the dam. The IIT faculty had presented their findings to the

villagers but did not find any takers as the villagers did believe it was possible, but

were not sure that the resources were available and did not believe that their

political leadership at the village level would support such an initiative, given inter

party competition and zero open support from the local administration.

Forging Alliances

Accordingly, the Barefoot Academy allied itself with the Kashtakari Sanghatna, a

people’s organization of the tribal people working in the area for the past 15 years

Maharashtra, keen to in resolve the water crisis with the active support of the tribal

people. On the other hand Dr. Milind Sohoni, Engineering faculty of the Indian

Institute of Technology (Mumbai), convenor of the Water Resources Study Group in

the Center for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA) and his colleague

Mr Rajaram Desai, the brains behind the water supply alternative by gravity were

unable to muster popular political support. Dr. Sohoni was in contact with Aarohan,

a NGO formed by the Nirmala Niketan School of Social Work in Mumbai, which

appeared unequal to the task of negotiating settlements among different political

parties and their representatives in a highly politically charged adversarial

atmosphere. The future could open up only with an alliance of the three, the Center

for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas of IIT, Aarohan and Kashtakari

Sanghatna with its mass base and wide network with the various political parties

and factions in the block.

The Kashtakari Sanghatna activists, through the development administration and

in particular the Block Development Officer, began discussions with the Presidents

of all three tiers of self governing institutions, namely the numerous Village

Panchayats of the block, the President of the Block Panchayat and the elected

representative of Mokhada to the District panchayat in an attempt to bring them on

board. Efforts were made to ensure that the Panchayat Presidents of all political

persuasions were part of the campaign, accordingly the local political leadership

from the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Bhartiya Janata Party and

the Congress were coaxed into associating with the Campaign for Water Rights.

Discussions with the development administration lead to a decision that the

Campaign should start with a Water Rights Convention at the end of May 2014. The

location was to be agreed upon by the various political parties.


May – July, 2014


After extensive discussions, all the parties agreed to support the campaign and

with the offer of Smt. Mohana Wagh, the (Sarpanch) VPP of Khodala GP and Shri

Pralhad Kadam a highly respected (Ex Sarpanch) Khodala GP to organize the

program, the Convention was planned to be held in Khodala. Senior citizens, VPPs,

village leaders and women participated in the convention. Arohan, a NGO working

of development activities would be among the numerous NGOs to attend the

convention. The Panchayat President of Khodala, with the support of her Panchayat

leaders, promised to take care of hospitality. Accordingly the Panchayat of Khodala

village provided the breakfast for the participants, while lunch was provided by the

Shiv Sena and BJP Panchayat Presidents of Mokhada

Mobilising Consciousness, Negotiating Participation

The answer to the dilemmas of water rights, stewardship and citizenship was

placed before the adivasi population of over 50 hamlets spread over 16 villages of

Mokhada during the two phases of the yatra spread over three weeks of May. The

activists of the Kashtakari Sanghatna who moved in the villages in the first fortnight

of May 2014 posed three issues before the tribal people for debate and take a

collective decision. Short plays, discussions and debates were the daily fare during

the yatra. The first phase of the yatra conducted in the first fortnight of May

attempted to stimulate debate and discussion on three questions never asked or

answered before. Given below are the questions and the abbreviated gist of

answers

Q 1 Is water was a basic right?

A 1 Most felt that it was not a right but a facility that the public must enjoy.

Q 2 Are the authorities were duty bound to recognize the right have done so?

A2 Opinions were mixed as to whether the authorities were required to do so. The

respondents appeared to rely more on their panchayat representatives and their

leadership than the development administration. Their answers appeared to be

realistic; the panchayat representatives were residents of the village, while the

officers of the development administration were seated in distant Mokhada which

was accessible only after a long journey partly on foot and over loaded jeeps that

took almost a day. Many felt that their political representatives were doing them a

great service, others felt that they were their well wishers, a third felt that the

politicians were building their bonus points for the next election. Few knew that the

price for supply of water was borne by the development administration, but still felt

that the expense was made under the pressure of the representatives. Still few

knew but were unwilling to admit that water supply should have been made as a

matter of course, but were regularly delayed to create panic and reap electoral


May – July, 2014


rewards. Almost none thought that they had the power and could exercise it to

enforce their rights.

Q 3 Is a permanent solution of water supply possible?

A 3 No was the prompt answer across the villages. If permanent solutions were

possible, why have none of the water schemes that the government had sanctioned

and the contractors erected failed so quickly. Why is there no trace of these water

supply schemes. The water source was either insufficient or the construction poor,

the electricity bill too high or supply mismanaged by the panchayat.

The second phase of the yatra was spent in building up the capacity of challenging

the present conditions of engineered drought and enforced scarcity on the tribal

residents of the block. It also hoped to meet the demand that water supply agencies

from Municipal Corporation of Mumbai, the main beneficiary of the bountiful water

of Mokhada and the Maharshtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, the water provider agency of

the Maharashtra Government be brought to the Convention.

While the first preparatory phase of the yatra from the 15th to the 21st May was

visualized as a consciousness raising phase, the second phase from 26th to 31st of

May included the following objectives.

1. Raise the Issue of Right to Water as a Basic Human Rights

2. Raise the Issue of Water Security in an Extremely Water Starved/Tanker Driven

Area

3. Recognize Water Resource Extraction as the Cause of Water Starvation in

Mokhada

4. Posit Bruhan (Greater) Mumbai Municipal Corporation as Duty Bearer on behalf of

Mumbai’s Citizens to Recognize of the Right of the Citizens of Mokhada to Water

5. Enlarge the Public Debate on Rights to Water and Responsibility of Duty Bearers

to Recognize Rights of Residents of the Catchment Areas

6. Enlarge the Debate of on the role of Water Consumers in BMC as Duty Bearers

a. for Reduction of Consumption of Purified Water,

b. Judicious Consumption of Drinking Water,

c. Use of Grey and Recycled water for all other purposes

d. Consumer Water Conservation as a Rights of the Communities in the

Catchment Areas

e. Enlarge the debate on Duties of Water Consumers to Protect Rights of

Communities in the Catchment Areas


May – July, 2014


7. Call for Policies Requiring Fulfilment of Duties of Water Consumers to satisfy

conditions in 6 above before approval of any New Dam causing displacement

The culmination of the process in the convention would be the first of its type in

the block and the district and mark the first steps of a Water Rights Movement by

the people of Mokhada co-partnering the Barefoot Academy of Governance and the

Kashtakari Sanghatna.

The convention was the culmination of a Jal Yatra, literally meaning Pilgrimage

for Water, a popular awareness campaign which had moved through over 50

habitations spread over south west parts of Mokhada over the month. It is

important at this point to place on record that the whole exercise was to initiate a

new debate on the governance of water, with a wide range of rights holders and

duty bearers, with rights holders also evolving into duty bearers in conserving a

scarce resource for unborn generations.

The yatris had met with villagers and engaged with women in particular to

ensure a shift in the understanding of the issue and the resultant discourse from the

hitherto held understanding of the issue as water scarcity to recognizing it as water

deprivation in the habitations as the reason why women of Mokhada village were

forced to trudge for kilometres for a few pots of water, often to come home with

muddied water. The yatra also raised popular awareness on the pseudo response of

the taluka administration and political leadership to the crisis of water; namely

providing water to villagers through tankers to the advantage and profit of the

tanker lobby and the irony of the situation in Mokhada block which provides more

than 50% of the water to Mumbai city in Maharashtra and almost all the water for

Vapi city in Gujarat, while its own citizens faced extreme deprivation and in many

cases destitution.

The simmering water crisis had come to a head with the death of aged Parvati

Ramu Jadav of Dolara village who died from heart failure resulting from exhaustion

as she pushed her body beyond its limits trying to gather as much water as she

could before it vanished into the black hole of scarcity. The second phase therefore

envisaged reinforcement of the message that the people of Mokhada should look at

themselves in the new perspective, from being hapless victims of failed water

governance that had little or no appreciation for rights holders and duty bearers.

This critical area remained the thrust of the second phase of the Jal Adhikar Yatra

and culminated in the Sammelan Convention on the 31st May 2014. The samellan

sought to bring together citizens, elected representatives, duty bearers from the

BMC on a single platform. Recognizing the complex political contestations in

Mokhada, the campaign organizers decided to ask an a-political grouping, the

engineering faculty the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai) to take the lead.

Ms. Shiraz Bulsara made sure that participants from all the political parties


May – July, 2014


participated and the newly elected Member of Parliament graced the occasion and

promised his unqualified support.

It was the harsh context of survival at the margins that the first Jal Adhikar

Sammelan (Peoples Water Rights Convention) at Khodala of Mokhada taluka was

organized as the first step in the direction of water security. The Sammelan

(convention) was a necessary event to bring all the actors on board and get their

initial assent to the campaign. For the Kashtakari Sanghatna, in particular, the Jal

Adhikar Yatra, which literally means “Pilgrimage for Water Rights” was the first

step of mobilizing consciousness among the tribal people on access to water as a

right, the need for stewardship of the survival resource and finally to introduce

citizenship as the real goal.

Given the near pervasive fragmentation of the citizen community on the basis of

community loyalties, economic standing and political affiliations, the Jal Adhikar

Sammelan posed an additional challenge to the Kashtakari Sanghatna associating

with the Barefoot Academy to bring together several actors in the rights campaign.

The plan was to create a broad inclusive platform which could bring together the

numerous actors in Mokhada; from the party political, the non party political, the

voluntary organizations, the elected Panchayat Presidents, the Technical Experts,

the Administrators, representatives from Mumbai Municipal Corporation and the

citizens of Mokhada on a joint platform. The task before the organizers grew

immense as the days went by but Ms. Shiraz Bulsara, an activist of the Kashtakari

Sanghatna took on the responsibility to make the samellan a success. The proof was

the active participation of all the players and the active sponsorship of the event

cutting across the all political parties and factions, with Smt. Mohana Wagh, the

(Sarpanch) VPP of Khodala GP and Shri Pralhad Kadam highly respected Ex

Sarpanch, VPP of Khodala GP taking responsibility for the food for the guests, a

response unimaginable in Mokhada.

Ms. Shiraz Bulsara invited the assembled numerous VPPs and the political

leadership to the dais and called the meeting to order. Prof. Milind Sohni

engineering faculty from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai were called

upon to begin the proceeding by laying out the nature of the problem of sustainable

water supply and the nature of the cost effective solution. The faculty, basically

technocrats unconnected to the political realities of the block, had been given the

responsibility to invite the participants of the Convention.

Dr. Sohoni presented the findings of the study using Google maps of Mokhada

block and the adjacent Trimbakeshwar block of Nashik District where the Upper

Vaitarna Water Supply Project is located. Mr. Rajaram Desai also from IIT explained

that an engineering solution of installing a siphon was possible by which piped

water supply could be provided to 16 villages by gravity to the political leadership


May – July, 2014


of the Mokhada. He reiterated that after the initial expenses of laying the pipelines,

there would minimal maintenance costs that the water users would have to bear.

He argued that the ground realities of Mokhada contributed to the failure and

discontinuation of every single piped water scheme, following the inability of the

impoverished water users to bear high electricity consumption costs of pumping

water from water sources in the valleys to the habitations in the hills. In their

presentation they also established the value of water distribution with very low

running costs. They posed the problem of obtaining sanction to siphon water from

the Mumbai Municipal Corporation which was the legal owner of the Upper

Vaitarna dam and the waters impounded by it. Their proposal was received with

rapt attention and some villagers commented why this solution was never explored

earlier and they were punished by repeated water famine.

Shri Prakash Nikkam, the

Mokhada Block Panchayat

president, berated the officials

for the failure to that ensure

safe drinking water to the

citizens of the block and

decried the practice of giving

the last priority to remote

villages and habitations. He

insisted that a resource crunch

cannot be made an excuse to

deny the legitimate rights

demand of the backward areas

of Maharashtra and urged the District administration and the State government to

provide the financial resources to undertake the scheme at the earliest.

Other presidents of self governing institutions at the village and Mr. Santosh

Chauthe, member of the District Panchayat (Zilla Parishad), Mr. Thule, the Block

Development Officer of Mokhada and Mr. Kadri, the Water Supply Officer of the

Block Panchayat (Panchayat Samithi) of Mokhada in their own speeches extended

support to the proposal put forward by the IIT engineers, highlighting the theme of

the Convention to make Mokhada tanker free.

Mr. Bambre, Executive Engineer from the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran,

assigned the responsibility to execute water supply schemes to different villages

sanctioned by the Mokhada Block Panchayat, affirmed that his department had the

technical competence to execute the scheme described by the IIT engineers as well

as his willingness to implement any scheme that the Block may want. Several

murmurs could be heard in the crowd, why the MJP could not think of an innovative


May – July, 2014


scheme like the one suggested which is both cost effective and puts less financial

burdens on poor water users. Some of the villagers were also overheard saying not

a single MJP scheme survives in the block and in most villages no trace of a scheme

is observable. Mr. Bambre completed his speech once again offering the services of

his agency whenever called upon.

Mr. Malviya, the Deputy Engineer of the Bruhanmumbai Mahanagar Palika (BMC)

also extended his support to the project of water supply through gravity. He was of

the opinion that water supply to the 16 villages and their hamlets required approx

0.5% of the water impounded by the dams and supplied to Mumbai. The amount to

be drawn, in his assessment, was very small and it would not be difficult to obtain

the concurrence of the Corporation for the scheme. He went further to say that the

Mumbai Municipal Corporation providing drinking water to 144 villages on route to

Mumbai, could be a precedent to get financial approval from the Municipality to

cover the costs of the scheme. His speech was enthusiastically applauded. The

possibility of making the southern villages of Mohada tanker free is a dream come

true or almost, but the challenge would be to make the solution a ground reality and

next to take the scheme to the remaining villages of Mokhada and the block

headquarters.

Shri Chintaman Vanga – the newly elected Member of Parliament chaired the

Convention and delivered the key address. He offered his unqualified support for

the initiative. His speech set the terms of the deliberation that was to follow. During

his earlier stint as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra, Shri Vanga

had pursued a policy wherein water, a necessary though scarce survival resource

for all life was made available with least displacement of the tribals. He said this in

the context of a large number of dams, some constructed with Tribal Sub-Plan funds

meant for tribal development, which have displaced thousands of tribal families.

Though the stated objective was often shown as irrigation to allow tribal farmers a

second crop, he observed that the waters were diverted for providing water for

emergent urban enclaves in the district. He also agreed with one of the important

objectives of the convention that suitable protocols should be adopted which would

curb the indiscriminate waste of water. He recognized the arguments put forward

by the villagers of Ranshet, Avdhani, Nagzeri and Rankhol, under the banner of the

Kashtakari Sanghatna, who are opposing one more dam on the Sushri River in

Dahanu block to supply water to the urban pockets of Vasai-Virar in the district. He

appreciated the arguments of the Dahanu villagers on the role of water consumers,

who as duty bearers should make consistent efforts for reduction in consumption of

purified water and use of grey and recycled water for all purposes other than

human consumption and protocols should be evolved for the same. In his speech he

staunchly supported the need to enlarge the debate on duties of water consumers

to protect the rights of communities in the catchment areas.


May – July, 2014


The Convention concluded with a vote of thanks offered by Mr. Santosh Chauthe,

member of the District Panchayat (Zilla Parishad). The task of making the promises

real had just begun. The second phase will begin after the monsoons abate and the

people will be free after their sowing and transplanting imperatives are over by mid

august. Till then regular contact is being maintained with representatives of the

village communities.


May – July, 2014


Annexure 1

Objectives for Jal Adhikar Yatra (Water Rights Village Campaign)

The following objectives were evolved by the participants of the preparatory

workshop for the water rights campaign

8. Raise the Issue of Right to Water as a Basic Human Rights

9. Raise the Issue of Water Security in an Extremely Water Starved/Tanker Driven

Area

10. Recognize Water Resource Extraction as the Cause of Water Starvation in

Mokhada

11. Posit Bruhan Mumbai Municipal Corporation as Duty Bearer on behalf of

Mumbai’s Citizens to Recognize of the Right of the Citizens of Mokhada to Water

12. Enlarge the Debate on Rights to Water and Responsibility of Duty Bearers to

Recognize Rights of Residents of the Catchment Areas

13. Enlarge the Debate of on the role of Water Consumers as Duty Bearers

f. for Reduction of Consumption of Purified Water,

g. Judicious Consumption of Drinking Water,

h. Use of Grey and Recycled water for all other purposes

i. Consumer Water Conservation as a Rights of the Communities in the

Catchment Areas

j. Enlarge the debate on Duties of Water Consumers to Protect Rights of

Communities in the Catchment Areas

14. Call for Policy Requiring Fulfilment of Duties of Water Consumers to satisfy

conditions in 6 above before approval of any New Dam causing displacement


May – July, 2014


Annexure 2

Short Leaflet for Popular Mobilization for Right to Water Campaign

As equal citizens of this country the tribal people of Mokhada also have a right to

clean drinking water. Providing drinking water is not the largesse of politicians

and the government. It is a basic fundamental right of every citizen. The drinking

water problem is solvable. IIT Mumbai has on the basis of a study shown that the

drinking water problems of 16 tanker fed villages in the taluka can be solved

through the construction of a Piped water scheme from the Upper Vaitarna

reservoir. But while the proposal is gathering dust on the table of the

government, the tribal citizens of Mokhada are confronting a water famine of

untold hardship for as long as they can remember.

We therefore demand that

Immediate sanction of Piped Water scheme for 16 water starved villages using

gravity flow from Upper Vaitarna reservoir in the first phase and the remaining

46 villages in the second.

No more dams in tribal areas for providing water to urban areas, without atleast

60% water requirements of the urban areas being sourced from rain water

harvesting, recycled water and grey water.

Drinking water must be provided to the nearby villages, wherever dams have

been already constructed for providing water to urban areas. Costs must be

borne by the beneficiary urban body governance institutions.

The cost (including construction and maintenance costs) of providing water to

villages in Mokhada taluka must be borne by the consumers of water in Mumbai

namely the Bruhan Mumbai Mahanagar Palika (BMC).

Local people must be closely involved in monitoring the construction of water

schemes to ensure quality and sustainability.


May – July, 2014


Annexure 3

The persons involved in the campaign were as follows:

1. Bhagwan Kachre

2. Kashinath Nande

3. Sanjay Dahale

4. Balu Ghatal

5. Gangaram Ghatal

6. Ramesh Ghatal

7. Krishna Bhovar

8. Madhubai Dhodi

9. Shiraz Bulsara

10. Brian Lobo


May – July, 2014


Annexure 4

Villages visited and dates

JAL ADHIKAR YATRA Phase 1

Date Morning Evening

03-05-2014 Nashera Shirasgaon

04-05-2014 Adoshi Pathardi

05-05-2014 Khodala Gomghar

08-05-2014 Jogalwadi Udhala

09-05-2021 Sayada Kiniste

10-05-2014 Kochale Kaduchiwadi

12-05-2014 Karegaon Ashramshala


May – July, 2014


JAL ADHIKAR JAGRUTI YATRA - Phase II

Date 10 a.m. 12 noon 3 p.m. 5 p.m. 7 p.m.

26-05-2014 Palsunda Shindechi

met

Koshimshe

t

Dhamans

het

Pendkyachiwa

di

27-05-2014 Sakharwadi Dolhara Nashera Shirasgao

n

Adoshi

Mahupada

28-05-2014 Adoshi Pathardi Gomghar Shelampa

da

Jogalwadi

29-05-2014 Udhla

Hattipada

Kiniste Kochale Kaduchiw

adi

Karegaon

30-05-2014 Sayada /

Talyachiwadi

Khodala Khodala Waghechi

wadi

31-05-2014 - JAL ADHIKAR SAMMELAN - KHODALA


May – July, 2014


Annexure 5

Posters

Poster 1 – The Upper Vaitarna – a Real Boon for Piped Water Supply for Mokhada

Poster 2 – Google Map showing Potential Gravity Water Supply Villages


May – July, 2014


Poster 3 – Comparison bet Upper & Lower V Projects

Poster 4 – Stop Women’s Drudgery


May – July, 2014


Poster 5 – CBM of Water


May – July, 2014


Poster 6 - Stop Loot of Water from Tribal Areas

Poster 7 – Tanker Free Mokhada is Eminently Possible


May – July, 2014


Veppur Block of Perambalur District in Tamil Nadu



1. Visiting VPs and discussion with Panchayat Presidents about the development context and sustainable development paradigm

2. Setting the stage: Conducting workshop for Village Panchayat Presidents on change initiatives for sustainable development

3. Identification of block level volunteers 4. Conducting workshop for block level change agents of select panchayats (BLCAs)

leading to formation of CRGG with village volunteers; also mobilising school children to form change groups in select schools.

Work accomplished

1. All 33 Village Panchayat Presidents have been met and discussions held on a

range of development issues pertaining to their villages in particular and the

entire Block in general.

2. A 3-day residential workshop was conducted for all Village Panchayat presidents

in Anaikatti a place near Coimbatore. The District Collector had issued a circular

instructing all Panchayat Presidents to attend the workshop. 22 persons

participated including the Panchayat Union Chairperson. The workshop ended

with the adoption of a Vision statement of sustainable development of the Block.

3. The Vision was presented to the District authorities including the Collector and

has been endorsed by the senior officials also. A series of activities are planned to

take forward the vision document as a plan document.

4. 5 Block level volunteers have been recruited and have begun work in the Block.

The decision was consciously made to choose local persons as it will be an asset

to the Block in the coming years.

5. Workshops to start `Green Brigades’ in different schools to mobilise school

children have begun. In May.2014, in Paravai and Perumathur Schools, students

from 8th-12th standard have been trained on Water and Sanitation issues in a

participative manner. This work will be undertaken in a more systematic and

intense manner soon with the focus immediately on sanitation issues.


May – July, 2014


6. 9 Village Panchayats have volunteered to be the pioneering villages for aiming

for total sanitation. Bridge work with district programme and mobilising

children, youth and women has already been initiated.

Interventions in Veppur (Summary Report of First Quarter)

1. Dialogue with Community on prevention of open defecation, a social evil.

1.1 Dialogue with the community: BA team had dialogue with community at

MGNREGA work site in three village panchayats so far covering an

approximate no. of 1200 female and male community members. The dialogue

in the MGNREGA worksite was focused around prevention of open defecation

and nurturing water bodies in the village. The interaction was focused on

community consciousness on the issue of open defecation by inducing a

sense of shame and guilt. The key message that has been sent across is that

everyone must change their behaviours or else no one in the community will

benefit from the sanitation facilities. As far as Total Sanitation is concerned,

the future strategy is going to be multi-pronged. Total Sanitation will

emancipate people from disease burden, shameful exposure and it will

advance them towards freedom for clean & hygienic village and dignified life.

Both rewarding and reprimanding strategies will be used for learning a new

behaviour in terms of creating open defecation free villages but also clean

and hygienic village environment.

1.2 The community interaction process in Nallur Village of Perumathur

Panchayat: The interaction began with asking people about some of the

aspects about which they feel proud of their village. The village people listed

few aspects such as clean and safe drinking water facility, fertile land for

agriculture and sufficient work for livelihood. When people asked about not

proud aspects it took a while for people to respond. The BA team had to

provoke them to respond. A young woman from the crowd responded saying

“Sanitation is the issue Sir”. “Only few households have individual toilet

facility, may be 30 families, rest do not have that facility, they defecate

openly”, she described with a sense of shame. Later on we found that her

family has toilet facility which is being used by all family members except her

aged in-laws. We appreciated her for highlighting the issue despite her family

having toilet facility. Her name is Laskhmi Prabha, married and living in this

village for the past 9 years. She studied upto 10th standard and has necessary

potentials to be a community volunteer to spearhead change process in the

village. The discussions continued on other concerns / issues in the village.

People enlisted other issues such as no bus facility and health facility. We


May – July, 2014


spent considerable amount of time in discussing about the need for

preventing open defecation. “Dignity” was highlighted as major issue for all

especially women. Some of the news paper reports highlighting how women

are the worst sufferers of open defecation were quoted for sensitizing people

on the need for preventing open defecation.

2. Workshop for School Students

In May 2014, two schools in Paravai and Perumathur respectively have

volunteered to organise two days summer camp. The Panchayat Presidents have

facilitated this process. On 12th and 13th May and 20th and 21st May 2014, the

students from 8th -10th 12th standard students in Paravai and Perumathur

schools respectively have collectively introspected over water and sanitation

issues. Experiential learning methods have been used including pictorial

exercises to understand water and sanitation issues. Atleast 60 students

participated in both schools and many students have volunteered to work on

water, sanitation and environmental issues.

3. Workshop for Panchayat Presidents

A 3 day workshop from 25-27Jul.2014 was organised for Panchayat Presidents

of Veppur block in KKID, Anaikattai near Coimbatore.

3.1 Major mindset shifts (Effected in the minds of Panchayat Presidents)

3.1.1 Schematic to people centric

3.1.2 From the mindset of contractor to a Panchayat President who is

willing to partner with people to work collaboratively for sustainable

development of the village through campaign mode.

3.1.3 Relationship with Barefoot Academy: Barefoot Academy is a partner

in the process of building people’s movement towards achieving

sustainable development goals. It is not a funding organization to

expect money for implementing schemes in the village.

3.2 Evolution of Vision: A comprehensive & long-term Vision, comprising the

values of sustainable development, has been evolved by the participants with

a concern for future generations.

3.3 Consensus building for implementing Total Sanitation Scheme of GoI :

3.3.1 After heated deliberations the Panchayat presidents collectively

resolved to implement the scheme converging MGNREGS with

people’s participation.

3.3.2 Lack of sufficient space for construction of Individual Household

Toilets for nearly about 20% of the families of which 80% are dalits:

The suggested solution is to identify common land, construct separate

toilets for a group of families at one place and hand over one toilet for

each household for usage and maintenance. An action plan has been


May – July, 2014


prepared by Panchayat Presidents for identification of common land

for formal acquisition.

3.3.3 People are not ready to believe that the money would be reimbursed

after completion of work and submission of bills, How to address the

issues concerning timely reimbursement of bills?: It is true that many

people are raising doubts over the reimbursement of bills by the Govt

Officials for which Panchayat Presidents have suggested a solution.

“The block officials should allow us to implement the scheme in a

phased manner. 50 beneficiaries at a time. The Administrative

sanction should be granted to 50 households during the first phase.

The first phase beneficiaries are those who can afford to invest money

for construction of toilets and submit bills for reimbursement later.

The first phase work should have been completed by the time the

second phase beneficiaries are mobilized. The bills of the first phase

beneficiaries should have been paid by the time the second phase

beneficiaries are mobilized in order to make them believe that bills

would be settled after the completion of the construction.” The

Chairperson has expressed his readiness to lead the team for

discussing this issue with Government officials for arriving at a

solution. There are also other issues to be discussed with the District

Collector for effective implementation of Sanitation scheme in the

villages.

3.4 Exercises on Water: Participants underwent a simulation game to understand

the water context in a village and issues in sharing water and the conflict

between community usage and industrial usage of water. Discussion on

encroachment on water bodies and how to tackle the issue was also

discussed!

4. Application of Six resources framework

We have started applying Six Resources frame work in select villages to study

and strategize interventions for Community Led Sustainable Development in the

select villages (Perumathur, Moongilpadi, Andhur, Kolappadi and Varagur). This

is a continuous process which will be updated on regular basis with new

observations and insights. We will extend the application of six resources

framework to a few more select villages during the next quarter.

5. We have started forging a mix of Ideological and Instrumental working

relationship with people / Panchayat presidents where we have initiated

people led sustainable development process in the villages. Multiple entry point

approaches have been adapted while initiating the working process in the village

as enlisted below.


May – July, 2014


5.1 Entry through School Children

5.2 Entry through MGNREGS workers with issues pertaining to Sanitation,

Drinking Water and Water Resources.

5.3 Entry through Proactive Panchayat President

5.4 Entry through Youth

6. Identification of volunteers / change agents at the village level

4.1 Simultaneously we have also started identifying village level volunteers with

the help of few observable indicators as listed below.

A person who has concern for the village and has a reasonable

understanding about her/his village.

She/he has a sense of ownership and belongingness to the village where

she/he lives.

She/he has already taken some initiatives in the past to address some

issue voluntarily

She/he has a source of livelihood for basic subsistence and willing to live

continuously in the village.

We have provisionally identified few change agents at the village level.

7. Identification of Block Level Change Agents:

7.1 The primary focus in the next quarter will be to identify village level

volunteers as Block Level Change Agents who will take the change

programme forward in their panchayats. Care will be taken to ensure that

volunteers chosen will represent different sectional interests in the villages

including women, dalits, physically challenged sections and others.

7.2 Once the identification process is completed, they will be given intensive

training on a variety of subjects related to sustainable development including

sanitation and water security so that they, in turn can work within their own

panchayats and concretise sustainable development programmes.


May – July, 2014


Annexure-1

Vision Statement evolved by Panchayat Presidents of Veppur Block

Nature and Humanism, For all, For ever!

Our Vision

We shall plant trees. We will ensure pure air. We will protect soil wealth. We will save rain water! We will ensure safe drinking water. We will protect all water sources; expand them. We will create villages practicing natural farming. We will produce and consume more traditional food varieties. We will banish smoking and liquor. We will eliminate open defecation. We will create clean, healthy villages. We will guarantee quality education. We will create villages which are … plastic free … female foeticide free

… caste and communal discrimination free … free of child marriages. We will protect the rights and welfare of children, elders and the challenged. We will protect the livelihoods of individuals. We will create strong, vibrant gram sabhas with community participation. We will uphold human dignity, humane values and ethics. We shall all work together to achieve this in a democratic manner with the slogan, “Living

and Well being, In our hands!” We, the members of the Veppur Koodam (residents of Veppur Block) dedicate ourselves and take an oath to achieve all this for our generation and future generations”. The oath taken by 22 residents of Veppur Koodam (Veppur Panchayat Union of Perambalur district) comprising 19 Panchayat Presidents, The Panchayat Union Chairman and 2 others, and 5 members of the Barefoot Academy of Governance, at the end of a 3-day workshop in KKID Training Centre, Anaikatti, near Coimbatore on 27th July, 2014.


May – July, 2014


Muniguda Block of Rayagada District in Odisha



1. Meeting with villagers, ward members of Palli Sabhas (village councils) and Sarpanchas (Gram Sabhas) on making select villages ODF, Water and Food secured.

2. Evolving a detailed draft plan involving villagers, ward members, Sarpanchas

and others on Community Led Total Sanitation Campaign (CLTS) as also Water and Food security with special focus on uncultivated food (UCF).

3. Sharing the plan with Block Development Officer of Muniguda and other officials.

General

Muniguda block of Rayagada district is spread out over a wide geographical area

with numerous scattered habitations with small concentrations of people. Muniguda

block and actually Rayagada district itself is home to a number of Adivasi - Primitive

Tribal Groups (PTGs). The population density is only 116 people per sq. Km and in

90.47% villages the population is less than 500. Hence it is very difficult to provide

service to all the beneficiaries.

The scattered nature of habitations makes provision of essential services

difficult. So convergence among different line departments for strengthening

service delivery at outreach pockets becomes a key focus arena of intervention.

Another great challenge is also mobilising local Adivasi and PTGs to demand

provision of services.

The BA intervention in the area took some time to be launched. A primary reason

was the challenge of identifying competent and committed field functionaries who

understood the work BA was attempting was different from the routine and regular

development activities undertaken in such areas.

The other reason why work began late was the prevalence of extreme drought

like situation following the delayed onset of monsoons which led to some distress

migration out of the area. It was only when monsoons set in more than a month late

that many of the villagers returned to the villages.

Despite these limitations however considerable ground was covered which we

describe below.


May – July, 2014


Basic Data on Muniguda Block

Total nos. of GPs: 16

Total nos. of Village: 412

Total HHs.: 23135

Total CHC: 1

Total PHC (New): 3

Total Population: 100630

Total AWCs: 177

Total ASHAs: 199

Total ANM sub centre:23

Total Vana Surakshya Sammittee(VSS): 74

Total Dense Forest: 12

Total Sparse Forest: 22

Water User Association under Minor Irrigation Dept.: 24

Total Farmers Club: 24


May – July, 2014


Sl No Name of the GP Total Population Total HHs.

1 Agulo 4289 862

2 Bhairabgada 3658 781

3 Kumudabali 8296 1792

4 Muniguda 12960 3145

5 Munikhol 5484 1286

6 Telengapadar 5040 1101

7 Sibapadar 8583 1940

8 Saradhapur 6348 1422

9 Jagdalpur 6527 1735

10 P.Ranipinda 4616 1030

11 Amalabhata 5038 1422

12 Dimiriguda 4110 917

13 Icchapur 9690 2007

14 Patraguda 5444 1289

15 Raghubari 3767 843

16 Ambadola 7347 1563

Total 100630 23135


May – July, 2014


PROGRESS REPORT

Activity Planned Indicators for assessing achievement Secondary Data Collection Collected Secondary information

from various sources. Conduct regular bi-monthly PLA meetings (on issue based) with “KUTUMBA” in all villages and strengthen the “KUTUMBA” to have solidarity and maintain a strong pressure group in the area to take up development action.

PLA-I meetings have been completed in five villages (Kantrabali, Dhobagudi, Deokupuli, Ladiponga & Khajuripadar).

Collected the status report by using of six resource frame work of the above five villages.

Developed the seasonal calendar on food consumption and collection.

Have meeting with all Sarapanchs (3 days)

It will be conducted on 13th,14th & 15th Sept’14

Findings from Six Resources Frame Work and PLA-I Meetings:

SOCIAL

All the above five villages are the mix community of Dalit (SC), ST and Others.

The people from ST community are having the strong community feeling. If a dalit

person touched a cooked food, the ST person never eats those foods. Economic groups

are based on having more agricultural land and assets.

Some influential person from every hamlet keep in touch with panchayat

regularly and all communication from panchayat goes through them to all hamlets.

Internal solidarity between ST & Dalit is visible.

It needs to be focused to gather the people from all communities under the

umbrella of village “KUTUMBA”.

CULTURAL

All the above five villages are the mix community of Dalit (SC), ST and Others.

The people from ST community are having the strong community feeling. One Vana

Surakshya Smittee (VSS) is at Ladiponga Village to reduce the degraded forest by the

afforestation and improve their livelihood by the forest produces, with the support of

Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP) and every village is having the


May – July, 2014


Women Self Help Group(WSHG). The people are from the same community, they have

respect for each other according to their customs.

Every village has one Jani, one Disari and one Bejuni. Jani is the village leader,

Disari is the decision maker regarding any festival and Bejuni is the priest for their

traditional goddess.

Only One defunct Water User Association is in one village out of five villages. In

each and every festival of the different communities, the members from all the

communities are involved; however, at the time of taking food in a community in each

village, there still prevails some untouchability practices between ST and Dalit people.

All the members from the different communities have the practice of taking

decisions for collective benefit for their own community. Sanitation is a major

issue in all the five villages.

POLITICAL

Several villages have CBOs, but they are not actively involved in any community

outreach activities. The local leaders from amongst the communities in the village

mostly focus on securing welfare and financial benefits from different government

departments and are not very aware or conscious of their rights or entitlements. As a

reason, their approach to the government functionaries is one of subservience and

subordination and view welfare schemes as gifts from the government and not as

entitlements that they have a right to receive.

Women and Children do not actively participate or are not involved in any

forum.

Political Leaders exploit community for their vested interests.

ECOLOGICAL

Though most people have agricultural land, water availability is an issue and

water crisis a major threat to cultivation. Presently, rain water is the only source for

agriculture. So the people are harvesting the one time crops in a year and production is

low.

Currently they are cultivating Raggi, Paddy, Alsi, Judonga, Kolatha, maize etc. Due

to less harvesting of crops the people are mostly depending on forest for uncultivated

food.

Availability of drinking water is also not sufficient for the community in the

summer season.


May – July, 2014


All the Water User Associations are dysfunctional or non-existent and there is an

urgent need to revive them. Though the MIPs are there, the people are not benefited

by those projects, because no one assumes responsibility for maintaining the project

and the government functionaries do not care to interact and empower local villagers

to take care of the LI points.

There is one lift irrigation point at Dhobagudi village. Presently, it is in defunct

condition. The LI point can irrigate near about 50 acres of land. But due to hydrological

problems even that irrigation source has dried up and become non-functional. Nearly

20-30 families fully depend on the irrigation source for vegetable and paddy

cultivation. A non-local person (from AP) cultivated about 20 acres of land; but due to

a local dispute with the Pani Panchayat and that person has stopped maintaining the LI

Point. Consequently both the LI point has become non-functional and the Pani

Panchayat has also nothing to take care of.

In such a situation some people of Dhobagudi village have decided to construct

individual bore wells. After our intervention it has been decided at the meeting of their

“KUTUMBA” that the irrigation source needs to be revived. Following this the local

leaders have also discussed with the concerned LI department officials and staff the

steps to be taken to rehabilitate and resume functioning of the Lift Irrigation Point.

Drinking Water resources are also not sufficient for the villagers. So sometimes,

people are depending on Nala, River and Chuan for drinking water. Most of the time

people are suffering from water borne diseases. That’s why malnutrition is high in this

block. Water Scarcity is one of a major problem for Muniguda Block.

ECONOMIC

Agriculture is the major source of income not only for the above villagers but

also for the people of Muniguda Block. Land is there, but we have to give special

capacity building input to strengthen the “KUTUMBA” to make their demands reach

the system. We have to support the “KUTUMBA” to revive the existing WUA and

creation of new water bodies.

Now some farmers are interested in availing the bore well under govt. scheme by

depositing Rs.10,000/- for the BPL family and Rs.20,000/- for the APL family. All

villages have a Primary School and an AWC inside the village.

The villagers are mostly depending on the Muniguda Market. Eight small shops

are available in all five villages.


May – July, 2014


KNOWLEDGE

The above five villages have population of 1919. For the children there is an AWC

and a Primary school available in all the villages. The number of literate persons is

very few in the villages. Even the few farmers, who have knowledge on crop

diversification, organic farming etc., are unable to engage in such farming practices as

water is not sufficient for multiple crops. There is also a major constraint in the ability

of local villagers to absorb better and improved agricultural practices from outside

very easily on account of their lack of exposure, less advanced agricultural practices

and poor literacy levels. This places constraints on imparting new skills and makes the

process of giving skill training to local farmers, a major exercise.


May – July, 2014


Nutritional Status Report:

Nutritional status of children under the age group of 0-1 years during the month of Jun'14

Sl. No.

Name of the ICDS project

Total children

in the project

Total No. of

children weighed

% Nutritional status of children

Green % Yellow % Red % 1 Muniguda 2809 2753 98.0 1794 65.2 866 31.5 93 3.4 District Total 24953 23748 95.2 15260 64.3 7383 31.1 1105 4.7


Sl. No.


Total children in the project

Total No. of children weighed




Sl. No.


Total children

in the project

Total No. of

children weighed




Sl. No.


Total children

in the project

Total No. of

children weighed




May – July, 2014


Source: ICDS MPR for the month of June’2014.

Green : Normal Children.

Yellow: Underweight Children.

Red: Severely underweight Children.

Findings:

10881 nos. of children weighed out of 13270 nos. of 0-5 years age at Muniguda

Block.

18% children 0-5 years of age are not weighed, that means they are left out, so

malnutrition status may be higher than the reported data.

Similarly 3 to 5 years children attend preschool regularly, but weighing status is

only 64.8%. Another 35.2% children are left out. Here also malnutrition status

may be higher than the reported data.

Malnutrition is also a major cause of infant and child death in Muniguda

Block.

Name of the Block

Total Live

Birth Birth Weight

Taken

% Birth Weight taken

% of LBW Born

Muniguda 222 188 84.7 3.6 District Total 1352 1265 93.6 6.1

Findings:

Total birth weight taken 188 nos. children out of 222 no. of total live birth, i.e.

84.7%.

Because more than 50 % of AWWs are not staying at her AWC area, Out of 84.7% of children 3.6% children are LBW (Low Birth Weight). LBW is

also a major cause of infant and neonatal death in Rayagada District.

Total Pregnant Mother registered in Muniguda Block: 219 nos.

Out of 219 pregnant women, 112 registered their pregnancy at AWC within 4

weeks and rest have registered beyond 4 weeks.

Those registered after 4 weeks of pregnancy may not receive the services from

govt. in time. It may cause the infant & child death and maternal death also.


May – July, 2014


Background:

Infant Key Indicators (DLHS-3) Odisha Rayagada

Breast feeding within 1 hour (U 3yrs) 54.30% 63.70% Exclusive Breast Feeding

50.20% 54.50% Children received Colostrum 87.20% 90.70%

Received Colostrum with an hour of birth

63.20% 82.30%

Full immunization 62.40% 29.60%

Women aware of ORS 73.40% 72.20%

Children suffered from Diarrhea 13.40% 7.80%

Sought treatment 66.40% 66.30%

Children suffered from ARI 16.90% 8.50%

NBLS: Nutritional Base Line Survey.

District specific burden like diarrhoea, Malaria and Measles causing malnutrition:

The district has also history of measles in last two year. Sporadic measles cases

were also identified in sporadic places of the district.

Apart from Measles the district is also identified as endemic district for Malaria

in the state. Both Malaria and Measles are contributing to the prevalence of Malnutrition

among the under fives which a bigger challenge to the district and also for the Muniguda

Block.

Infant Key Indicators (NFHS-3 & NBLS) Odisha Rayagada Under nutrition level for 0-59 months children (Weight for age)

42.3% (NFHSIII) 42.7% (NBLS)

Stunting for 0-59 months children (height for age)

46.5%(NFHS III) 38.7% ( NBLS)

Wasting for 0-59 months children (weight for height)

20.5% (NFHS III) 26.3% ( NBLS)

Prevalence of Anaemia among 0-59 months children

66.6% (NFHS III) 79.4% ( NBLS)


May – July, 2014


Annexure 1

Rayagada: District Statistics

Geographical Area (Sq. Km) 7584 K.M Population 8,23,209 2001 (Census)

(SC 14.28%, ST 56.04%,OC 29.68%) 2.24% District Population of State population Population (M-469,672 & F-492,287) TOT= 9,61,959 (2.29% of stare population) 2011 (Census)

2001 2011 Growth rate 15.27 15.74

Sex Ratio 1029 1048

Literacy rate

Male : 47.35 Female:24.31

62.61 39.87 (TOT-50.88)

No. of Sub-divisions 02 (Gunupur & Rayagada) No. of Tahsils 11 No. of Blocks 11 No. of Municipality 01 (Rayagada) No. of NACs 02 (Gunupur & Gudari) No. of Gram Panchayats 171 No. of District Head Quarter Hospitals

01 (Rayagada)

No. of Sub Divisional Hospitals

01 (Gunupur)

No. of Community Health Centres (CHC)

11

No. of PHC(N) 36 No. of Rural Hospitals 2 No. of PPCs 2 (Rayagada & Gunupur) Total no. of indoor existing beds in the District

266

No. of Sub Centers 235 No. of Mobile Health Units 22 Other Govt. Medical Institutions

03 (E.S.I. Hospital, J.K.Pur, Nisikhal PHC(G.O.I), Railway Hospital, Rayagada)

Private Medical Institutions 04 (Christian Hospital, B.Cuttack, IMFA Hospital, Therubali, J.K.Pur Dispensary, J.K.Pur, Muniguda Health Care General Hospital, Muniguda)

No of AWCs 1939 (1397+542 Mini) Revenue Villages 2469 No. of ICDS projects 11 No. of ICDS sectors 72 Table-1- Basic Information


May – July, 2014


Details of villages in the district:

Size of the village/NAC population

Number Type of village

Tribal Urban

Less than 500 2413 2413 0

500 – 1000 257 257 0

1,001 – 3000 97 97 0

3000 above 0 0 0

Total number of Villages 2667 2667 0

Municipality (Rayagada) 1 0 1

NAC (Gunupur, Gudari) 2 0 2

Table 2: Details of villages in the district/ Source: Planning Dept. Rayagada

Tables 1&2 show the district has a very scattered Population, as the population

density is only 116 people per sq. Km and in 90.47% villages the population is less than

500. Hence it is very difficult to provide services to all beneficiaries. So convergence

among different line departments for strengthening service delivery is very much

essential.

“Only those who will risk going too

far can possibly find out how far one

can go.”

~T. S. Elliot

i quarter progress report may july, 2014 surya project flow west and provide drinking water to the...

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