On the ground

Water crisis due to drought. Women have to travel long distances to fetch water.

Dewas district is located in the central part of Madhya Pradesh. It covers an area of more than 7,020 square kilometres and a population of 1,563,715 inhabitants, of which approximately 30% live in urban areas and 70% in rural areas. The district faces a water access crisis. Due to low rainfall, reservoirs dry up, causing severe water stress. Communities suffer the consequences and risk their lives to fetch water. The women of the village have to get up early and travel long distances to the wells and fountains. Groundwater in some areas is also affected by fluoride.

In detail

Families in the villages of Rajpura, Binjari, Udaypura and Bherupur in Dewas district will have better accessibility to drinking water through the hub & spoke model. This system uses energy-efficient technology to draw the best available water source in the community (hub). It improves distribution through carefully calculated community distribution points (spokes) for various household needs. It is an efficient supply model for the most remote communities using mechanized solar submersible pumps disconnected from the grid.

Water conservation methods such as removing sediment from ponds and creating a rainwater harvesting structure will help recharge groundwater and fertile soil.

The activities to carry out are the following:

• Water resource management by removing sediment in ponds or rock control dams based on needs assessment.

• Construction of groundwater recharge wells and injections in drilled wells.

• Promotion of the sustainability of primary water sources through rainwater collection wells in community buildings or selected homes.

• Assess drinking water quality and provide point-of-use water treatments to vulnerable households.

• Water distribution to households through the Hub & Spoke model with the installation of mechanized off-grid solar pumps in selected villages, with pipes from the storage tanks to taps for each street.

• Formation and strengthening of the water user management committee to maintain the facilities.

• Achieve a behavioural change in the sustainable use of water in communities.

Methodology to be used:

• Conceptualization stage: The project engages community representatives for village-level mapping exercises to locate water sources and conduct water budgeting exercises to understand the need for safe water. A mapping exercise is a simple and effective way to analyze your area and discover development potential. This technique helps grow and develop guides so everyone can participate and get involved.

• Implementation stage: The community participates in volunteer work. Women’s self-help groups and the Water User Management Committee intervene throughout the implementation process to sustain the investments made. The committees also make decisions on convergence points for the facility.

• Post-implementation operation and maintenance: The Water Users Committee, which is composed of 10 to 15 community members, is solely responsible for the maintenance of the system. This includes cleaning solar panels, collecting user fees, and performing minor repairs.

The planned implementation methods are as follows:

• Village-level mapping: A village-level mapping exercise is carried out with community members, facilitated by the project team. This helps identify the various water sources with the participation of the community. We use the source map to identify vulnerable (water-stressed) areas from which the best available water source is taken. At the place where there is no source of water, a new well is drilled. Groundwater hydrologists collect field data, such as water yield and recharge rates, to determine the appropriate solar pump for Hub & Spoke initiatives.

• Identification of suitable convergence points:  The mapping aims to identify the common convergence points of homes to mount the support pole with taps. We locate elected convergence points 15 to 20 minutes from homes to help collect and ensure water in less than 30 minutes.

• Community ownership: We train and form Water User Committees to promote community ownership. Committee members will be introduced to crafts and masonry to enable them in basic repairs of taps, poles, pipes, etc. We also train in water security to help households understand the effects of water scarcity and simple measures to manage available water resources. The community also participates in post-implementation operation and maintenance. They also receive training on solar energy harvesting, the importance of cleaning solar panels and how to keep them clean.

• Use of solar-powered pumps: We use solar-powered pumps to ensure last-mile access to water. Rural communities often have intermittent access to electricity and limited budgets to pay for it. Installing solar-powered pumps reduces the financial burden on village councils (panchayats) while ensuring year-round water supply to households.

• Gravity-based distribution: The distribution system is designed to use gravity instead of using electrical power. The hub (water storage tower) is placed higher and 20 feet off the ground to maximize the use of gravity to push water up the poles. Each pole with taps is 200-250 m from the hub.

• Water conservation: Improve existing water structures to increase water storage capacity.

Sustainability Perspectives

Renovation and efforts to conserve the water system are simple, but making them sustainable and usable always requires a change of community mindset. The commitment of all citizens, local government bodies and community organizations is essential to keep services available.

To ensure sustainability, as a first step, we focus the program on promoting change by training and strengthening community-based organizations (a maintenance committee). We also carry out community activities to instil resource conservation and hygiene practices. In addition, we signed an AMC agreement for the technical aspects of maintenance of the solar submersible pump, its control unit and other sensors.

With World Vision, we have established an effective team of specialists in program management, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, promotion, infrastructure construction and technical support. This team develops its learning from programs implemented and evaluated globally and nationally through workshops and webinars. This will maintain the team’s knowledge and skills in evidence-based learning and evaluation, technical design, innovations and sustainable approaches.