Like many other villages in Andhra Pradesh, Nachinapalli also suffered from acute water shortage. People depended on the open wells and bore wells to meet their drinking water needs. Women had to walk miles to fetch drinking water until 1997, when Bala Vikasa Water Program solved the problem by providing the village with a Overhead Tank with a capacity of 1,60,000 liters. Nachanaplli has been a progressive village ever since. It has a Cooperative Society in which both men and women have membership, 47 Self Help Groups, with 38 of them organized by Bala Vikasa, and both men and women have savings.
What Nachanapalli did not have was accessibility to safe drinking water. With increased awareness on the ill effects of contaminated water on health, to solve the problem, the villagers started buying water at the rate of Rs.10/- per 20 liter can, from nearby Gangadevipalli Water Purification Plant.
Having learnt the positive effects of clean and pure water on the health of the people of Gangadevipalli, the villagers of Nachanapalli requested Bala Vikasa to install a ‘Water Purification Plant' in their village. After verification of the need, and following the set procedures, Bala Vikasa installed a Water Purification Plant in Nachanapalli in 2005.
770 families, i.e., 85% are members of the Water Purification Project, with each family paying a membership fee of Rs.300. The 15% families who have not taken membership are those who are not permanent residents of the village.
Purified water is being sold to the members at Rs.1/- per 20 liter can. On an average, 150 to 200 liters of purified water is distributed daily to the members. The amount collected every month helps in the monthly maintenance of the equipment, for the purchase of chemical required to purify water and for the remuneration of the operator.
A Water Committee of 11 members, with the designation of ‘President', ‘Vice-President', ‘Secretary', ‘Treasurer' and ‘Directors' manage the WP plant. The Treasurer maintains the accounts of the WP plant on a voluntary basis. The committee meets once a month, and monitors the accounts and other matters related to the WPP.
Annual General Body Meetings are held every year. Two such meetings have been held so far, attended by all the WPP members. Some major decisions were taken, including increase in the remuneration of WP plant Operators. With one-third of the Water Committee members completing their term of office, the General Body Members elected the new members.
The accounts are maintained regularly and displayed every month on the notice board of the WP plant. After 3 years, there was a closing balance of Rs.1,05,000. After meeting all the expenses of repairs and general maintenance, Rs. 50,000 was put in a Fixed Deposit.
Villagers of Nachanapalli are ever eager to improve their village. The Water Committee members are presently engaged in getting electricity for the WP plant at a cheaper rate. They are also working towards forming a Farmers' Cooperative in the village. The Water Committee members are taking the initiative to bring together the representatives of the other Committees in the village, to work in a more coordinated manner for the overall development and larger good of the village.
Since the villagers of Nachanapalli have taken effective ownership of maintaining the Over Head Tank and sustaining it over the last 10 years, and managing the WP plant successfully, in recognition of the people's spirit of cooperation, dedication, transparency and commitment to their village development, Bala Vikasa has given an incentive of Rs. 25,000. In addition, Bala Vikasa is now helping construct a second Overhead Tank, to meet the needs of the growing population.
In view of the fact that Nachanapalli has emerged as a model village, Bala Vikasa has also sanctioned a new program called Village Vikasa Pathakam (VVP) that aims at enhancing health, the environment and greenery. Rs.10,000 worth of plants have been planted in the school premises and in the homes of the pupils. The students have taken upon themselves the responsibility of protecting the saplings planted in the village.
THE OUTCOMES OF THE WATER PURIFICATION PLANT
1. It has increased cooperative and collaborative interactions among the people:
• the school having always been the focal point of the village and situated in the center of the village, on the proposal of the Water Committee, the school authorities provided a room for installing the Water Purification plant. In lieu of the schoolroom, another room adjacent to the school was given for the use of the school;
• since more drinking water is required during special occasions and functions, like marriages or other social or religious festivals, there is a common understanding among the villagers that purified water would be sold on such occasions for Rs. 3/- per can (Rs. 1/- for water, and Rs. 2/- by way of rent for the can), on condition that all the cans are returned to the site of the water purification plant;
• villagers contributed Rs.516 on the occasion of the ‘Solidarity Event' this year, recognizing the need to be sensitive to those less privileged than them, and support the village orphans.
2. The Water Purification plant has provided employment for two operators.
3. It has improved the health.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT FROM NACHANAPALLI
Since the installation of the WP plant in Nachanapalli 3 years ago, people from the surrounding villages, having heard about the pure water produced by the WP plant and better health enjoyed by the people of Nachanapalli, took the initiative to contact Bala Vikasa. Within a short span of time, more WPPs were sanctioned and set up.
• The people of seven villages from the Narsampet division– Thogarrai, Lakenpalli, Chelaparthi, Thimmampet, Konapuram, Girnibavi, and Madannapet–approached Bala Vikasa for Water Purification projects. On fulfilling all the conditions, the Water Purification plants were set up in all these villages. The number of people enjoying improved health, and reaping the benefits of development, has grown many fold.
• More requests are continuing to be received by Bala Vikasa. The ripple effect of the success of Nachanapalli, the visible evidence of people enjoying better health after the initiation of the Water Purification Program, is motivating even remote villages to go the Nachanapalli way.
• A Member of the Legislative Assembly, (MLA) has made provision for setting up 2 Water Purification Plants, one each in Narsampet and Ponakal, with the development fund allotted to his Constituency. The success of WPPs is improving collaboration and goodwill between the people and their political representative.
• With more and more WP plants installed/to be installed, the major positive development impact will be on the general health of the rural people.
• With more and more villagers being involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects, as per the norms of Bala Viksa, the ground is being set for increasing the sustainability of the development programs.
PEOPLE THEMSELVES EXEMPLIFY THE OUTCOMES
P.Tirupathiaiah, the Secretary of the Water Committee of Nachanapalli says of the efficiency of the WPP systems established by Bala Vikasa, and the influence of Water Committee of Nachanapalli: “The Village Development Committee of Ponakal, an adjacent village, had approached us, requesting us to teach them about the various procedures and systems involved in setting up and maintaining the Water Purification Plant. We taught them everything: Preparatory meetings, Membership Fee, formation of Water Committee, the role of Water Committee, Committee Meetings, the General Body Meeting, the Card system, the role of Operator, Accounting system, Maintaining the timings for water distribution, how to attend to technical problems of the Water Plant, etc. While setting up the WP plant, as well as afterwards, the Village Development Committee of Ponakal adopted the systems that we passed on to them from what we learned from Bala Vikasa. The inputs we gave on procedures, technical matters, and helping the Committee of Ponakal conduct their meetings have been possible because of the leadership training we received from Bala Vikasa, and for the success of the water purification plant at Ponakal. ”
Gudipalli Dharma Reddy, President of the Water Committee said: “The farmers in the village, during the harvesting of crops - whether they be cotton, chilli, turmeric, or groundnut - take 5 or 6 cans of purified water, paying additional amount of money that is fixed for extra cans, in order to provide clean drinking water to the workers. Farmers have realized that by providing purified water, it not only quenches their thirst, but also protects their health, thereby enabling them to work better and for more number of days. Farmers are now ready to buy purified water for their workers during the harvesting season.”
Dharma Reddy expressed his experience with his village people. He said: “It is very important that we attend promptly to any technical problems that arise in the working of the WP plant. In fact we are under pressure from the people. On one occasion, a Water Committee member had to rush to Hanamkonda to personally bring the technician to the plant to attend to the repair. Now we get in touch with the technician over the phone and he responds at once and attends to the repair. People become very agitated if there is a delay in receiving drinking water due to technical problems. Foreseeing their reactions, we get the WP plant repaired as soon as we can. During the summer season, there is demand for additional cans of purified water. This situation is aggravated by power cuts. To solve this problem we have bought a number of additional cans. The Operator of the night shift works almost till the early hours of morning, filling the cans, to make purified water available to the people. Maintaining the Water Purification plant is not merely a technical job. It needs commitment on the part of the Water Committee and the Operator, a commitment to ensure the health and sustainable development of people.”
Nalla Ranga Reddy is convinced about the good that the WPP has done. He declared: “After the Water Purification Plant has been set up in the village, two good things have happened: One, the age-old custom of women carrying the drinking water from the nearby wells has come to an end. The roles are now reversed. It is now the turn of men to carry water from the WP plant. The day the men do not collect water, for any reason whatsoever, there is confusion in the family. Women are not able to cook and all have to go without food. Anticipating such problems, men have no option but to fetch water for their homes. This role change is a good thing that has happened as a result of setting up of the water plant. Otherwise the practice of women having to carry water, solely bearing the burden, would continue. Men's attitudes have changed. They have become very cooperative”.
“Earlier we used to buy the purified water at the rate Rs.16/- per 20 liter can. It was a financial burden. Now, I can say from my personal experience, that I feel healthier than before and people in general have become more health-conscious. Their awareness on health matters has increased. It is all due to the purified water made available and accessible at a nominal rate by Bala Vikasa”.
THE QUALITATIVE RESULTS OF THE WPP
General Body Meetings, in which women are given an opportunity to actively participate has encouraged women to air their problems. In one instance, a woman spoke about her concern on the sale of liquor in the village and how it was ruining families. Although her husband abused her for speaking her mind in public, other village women supported her. In solidarity, the women took action to curtail the sale of liquor and the habit of drinking among their men. With persistent efforts, the women formulated strict regulations and eventually managed to get them approved by the entire village. WPP and the mechanisms put in place by Bala Vikasa for peoples' participation, has empowered the women of Nachanapalli. Savings in the families have increased which is being put to better use. The ripple effect is that women of other nearby villagers are following suit. WPP is bringing qualitative changes to the lives of the rural people and an overall development
The Water Committee members of Nachanapalli, in the sensitivity shown to the physically challenged people of their village, have become role models of their community. They have helped the physically challenged to organize and register themselves as a ‘Society', to help them receive government benefits such as monthly allowance, and other concessions, including a special quota reserved in certain jobs for the physically challenged. The committee members' consideration and humaneness for the disabled is a reflection of their new altruistic mind set, a result of their own self- development.
THE WPP COMMITTEE MEMBERS LOOK BEYOND THE PRESENT
Water Committee members in Nachanapalli, in reflecting the present situation in the village with the staff of Bala Vikasa, have realized certain lacuna in their system.
1. Women have not been given representation in any of the village committees.
2. The elderly residents of the village, whose children are either working in other cities in India or abroad, do not receive assistance from the villagers to meet their needs.
Committee Members are now committed to look into the representation of women in various village committees and the care and protection of the elderly. They are now fully aware that sustainable development of people includes the well being of all groups at the village level. It encompasses everyone, irrespective of gender or age.
In looking beyond the present, the Water Committee members are planning to bridge the gaps for a better tomorrow, a vibrant development outcome of the Water Purification Program.
