Gone are the days when Andharkachhala village in Gujarat faced acute drinking water shortage. A solar-powered system managed by a woman-led user group ensures adequate water supply now, besides bringing multiple other benefits.
Andharkachhala village in Jhagadia administrative block of Gujarat has 167 villages and 39,766 households. Although the block in Bharuch district is located 3.2 km south of the Narmada River, many villages here lack access to drinking water and irrigation.
But Andharkachhala in particular suffered from an acute shortage of drinking water and the situation was grim. The absence of a proper distribution network and tap connections adversely affected lives, particularly of the women. They had to trek to far-off places to fetch water. This was extremely time consuming, exhausting and costly, as the water was pumped by a diesel engine.
Lack of water also led to conflicts in the village. But that was until two agencies created a woman-led water user group to ensure piped water supply to every household.
“It was extremely exhausting for us women as we had to dedicate half a day only to collect water. Moreover, it led to the burden of household chores piling up, and I could never finish them on time,” said Rekhaben Sureshbhai Vasava of Andharkachhala.
“We would get into a lot of quarrels while collecting water. These conflicts had become unending and unbearable for everyone. We had to fight for something as basic as water,” she added.
There are four borewells in Andharkachhala, of which the community used two for drinking water purposes.
There was only one motor for pumping the water. The supply could hardly reach 8-10 houses from one borewell through pipelines. So the women in the other houses had to physically go there and wait for their turn to collect water.
If water wasn’t available, they had to go elsewhere to collect it.
A solar-powered drinking water supply scheme to supply water through pipelines to all the households was initiated. This would essentially reduce the cost and management compared to the diesel-powered supply system and make it eco-friendly too.
The main concern was improving the network of the pipelines so that water could be supplied to each household. After discussing with the community, a map of the pipeline network was laid out.
Sigachi Industries, a pharmaceutical company, funded the scheme, and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) (AKRSP(I)), a development organisation, implemented it.
Many meetings were held at the village level which Vasava was a part of, as this issue was a huge concern in her community. The other women also actively participated during the planning and implementation process.
After finalising the location for the installation of the entire system consisting of solar panels, pump and pipelines, a user group called pani samiti was formed. This group consists of eight members and has the responsibility of the entire asset.
A series of training sessions was held for the pani samiti, regarding the rules and regulations of maintaining the asset. They were also educated about the importance of renewable energy and sustainability of solar-powered systems. Vasava was elected as the leader of the user group as she knew about the pipelines from the borewells.
An amount of Rs 50 is collected every month as water charge or user fee. The committee maintains a register and gives receipts when villagers pay the user fee. The women have learnt how to handle finances as well.
With drinking water being accessible now, the quality of life of not only Vasava’s family but of the 76 households in Andharkachhala has improved.
The extra burden that all the women had of collecting water from faraway places has been eradicated completely. So now they have extra time for themselves.
All the women of Andharkachhala go together every morning to work in the fields of Kharia, a neighbouring village.
Although this is not ideally what Vasava wanted, this brings a reasonable income for her family. She can now send both her children to school as they don’t have to stay back to look after the house.
“Now we don’t have to worry about water, and there’s finally peace,” said Vasava.
As diesel engines were replaced with solar panels, the cost has come down. The lowered cost also leads to savings for the families.
The villagers are now aware of the importance of renewable energy. Vasava said that community participation has strengthened and people have become vocal and voice their concerns more freely.
Vasava and her friends share the same vision for their village. They hope there will be employment opportunities in their own village.
The lead image shows a woman of Andharkachhala village making use of the piped water supply system (Photo by Kristy Saikia)
Kristy Saikia is a development professional, currently working as a programme specialist in monitoring and evaluation in the rural areas of south Gujarat. Spending time with the community and constantly learning new things about them has been the greatest highlight of her life.
