Other Issues

Unusual and unexpected issues faced during project execution

The implementation of the project was undertaken by the Institute for Motivating Self-Employment (IMSE) – a community based organisation based in Birbhum District of West Bengal. IMSE has over 20 years of experience working with communities in West Bengal though it has no specific work experience in Murshidabad district. IMSE deputed a project officer to coordinate the project and work with the schools and communities of Murshidabad district. The schools were selected on the basis of the willingness of the teachers and staff to cooperate in the project. This in itself was a challenging task as the headteachers and staff are overburdened with their routine work and were diffident about shouldering new responsibilities.
The selected schools were from three blocks in Domkal sub-division of Murshidabad district. Raninagar I, Raninagar II and Jalangi II.
A purchasing committee was set up in each school to oversee the entire project. Comprising three to four members, the committee has the head teacher, the school secretary, a member of the PTA (Parent Teachers Association). In most cases, the community outside of the schools did not play a great role in the construction of the tank. The schools did not have any history or previous experience with community involvement.
The construction, using local masons and labour, was overseen by the purchasing committee.
Materials, cement, bricks etc were sourced from Sekh Para and Beharampur, bills submitted and cleared by the purchasing committee of each school.

Learnings

Knowledge of project and process for sharing

1) For future projects, it is recommended that the size of the tank be at least tripled to cater to the drinking water needs of the students. There is rain enough to fill a tank of any size several times over. 2) Where rainwater harvesting is not traditional we will need to focus very strongly on mobilizing the community on maintenance. The concepts of cleaning out the filtration tank, keeping the roofs clean, cleaning out the tanks and draining out the water will need to be reinforced.
3) 1.Theft of handpumps and pipes. This problem sounds unreal, but it is of great concern to most of the administration of the schools. They claim that handpumps get stolen by adolescent boys who then sell them in order to buy heroin. This was not a one off story – it was repeated in 6 of the schools visited. Discussions are underway on how to cope with this problem.

Impact

School Children Getting Water: 25500

school children

People Getting Sanitation: 25500