KHASKOSH

(Demand-Driven Community Managed Rural Water Supply and Sanitation)

Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board Newsletter Issue No 12 2002

Active Participation of the Community in Sanitation

Under the support of RWSSFDB (Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board), WUGs ( Water Users Groups) in local level and Fund Board in central level successfully celebrated "National Sanitation Week" in different districts in the first week of Jestha 2059. Besides the local level household and public places cleaning campaign there were also other programs conducted in the communities like school level sanitation quiz contests, cleaning temples and public roads, distribution of posters and pamphlets, construction of latrines etc. During the program the local intellectuals were invited to give their opinions regarding sanitation and they urged the community for the continuity of the community sanitation. There was also an exhibition on different sanitation related slogans on placards, a rally, and a prize distribution ceremony as well. These programs have helped increase the awareness of the local people towards personal, household and environmental sanitation as well as understand that sanitation is a necessary part of healthy living. Different user groups at the local level have handed over the reports of the week before the fund development board.To date the following supporting organizations have sent in their reports: Dhanusha Sewa Samiti, Janakpurdham organized the National Sanitation Week under the Dhaneshwor Water Supply and Sanitation Program in Bengdawar VDC and under the Setidevi Water Supply and Sanitation Program in Tulsichauda VDC. The Integrated Rural Development Society (IRDS) of Bardibas( Mahottari), Lakhanti Khola WUG conducted different programs like household, public places sanitation campaign, quiz contest, sanitation song, leaflets, pamphlets, distribution of posters etc. in Patharkot VDC-9 of Sarlahi district. The Deurali WUG under the Society conducted house smearing program in Parwanipur VDC-1 of Sarlahi district. The Bayalbasa WUG of Khayarmara VDC of Mahotarri district conducted sanitation campaign. The Janaki Mahila Jagaran Samaj of Janakpurdham, Dhanusa District conducted Sanitation programs among the communities residing in Katari-9, Tintalle, Udaypur; Tabasri-5, Ahale, Udaypur and Tabasri-2, Murme, Udaypur. This program has helped increase in number of students coming in their school comparatively cleaner and they have also started to take initiation in sanitation of the school premises. The participants have also made their commitment towards personal, household and environmental sanitation. With the support of Renaissance Society Nepal about 1000 HHs have benefited from the week long campaign. During the sanitation program the Society successfully conducted the training on sanitation with the help of mothers group in Pyuthan District, Bangevaroth VDC-7/8/9. A discussion program was also held with the participation of VDC Officials, Health Post Officials, Teacher and Student Organization Office bearers. Likewise, a rally was held in Tushara VDC-1, Pyuthan District carrying placards with slogans promoting sanitation and cleanliness. Mothers group of Khunga VDC-9 of Pyuthan district organized

campaigns to train people in the construction of latrines, the ways of precautions from contagious diseases, and awareness about the diseases that may spread by the lack of use of latrines. The Society also conducted training programs about the construction and use of latrines in Bangesaal VDC of Pyuthan District. Furthermore, Mothers Tapstand Group, after their meeting, organized a training program on the sanitation of public water taps, cleaning of household and surrounding etc. Likewise, training on the need to stop deforestation around the intake area, safeguard the water source from landslides, cleaning the water storage tank, safeguard the storage tank from unnecessary pollution and proper storage of water at home were organized. Among the three Water Supply and Sanitation Schemes conducted by the Social Source Development Center Nepal, Tansen (Palpa), Gajha Barda Scheme has organized the community meetings; follow up on household and modern latrine sanitation, poetry and folksong competition and schools as well as public buildings cleaning campaigns. Bhawani Integrated Development Center of Bhawanipur, Siraha with the help of the New Diamond Bal Club presented a street drama called "Safa Rahun Swastha Banu". Community awareness campaign to increase personal hygiene and change unhealthy habits was carried out by showing the Meena Communication Video Cassette. Shree Tarun Club of Trivuwan Nagar, Dang conducted a week long sanitation program by making, distributing and pasting sanitation related posters and pamphlets on the walls of the community with the help of Meldanda Water Supply and Sanitation Users Group and the Gogli Water Supply and Sanitation Users Group. Nepal Redcross Society Kaski Chapter (Pokhara) conducted many sanitation relating programs like placards written with slogans of sanitation, rally with the banners etc in Chainpur, Satmuhane Water Supply Scheme area Lekhnath-14. In these programs women from 250 HHs under the 21 Tapstand Groups took participation. Likewise, under the Phoksing Water Supply Scheme, Kaskikot VDC-3/4, local students and users conducted a speech program and participated in sanitation rally. Also, in 7 Water Supply Scheme areas 35 modern latrines construction has started with the financial support of latrine loan funds. Gaidakot Yuwa Club, Gaidakot, Nawalparasi organized a campaign to clean the Ghats which were used for bathing, funeral and washing vehicles along the banks of the Narayani River. A massive sanitation rally was also organized under the leadership of Yuwa Club along with the participation of other various organizations and people. Furthermore, cleaning of wards, Meena Communication Campaign, Blood donation program were conducted in which 110 donors took the participation. Poverty Elimination and Rural Development Program (PEARDP), Dhankuta conducted the sanitation week programs in the two Water Supply Schemes in the Sankhuwasabha District ( Mudesanischare Water Supply scheme and the Chauki Water Supply Scheme). For the environmental balance and safeguard from landslide and erosion, areas surrounding the school buildings were cleaned and more than 100 plants of different species were planted. Health issues such as precautions from Dysentery, Diarrhea and Cholera and evaluation of assigned programs implementation and reporting activities were conducted. For the protection of the Chauki Water Supply Scheme from landslides and erosion, 140 saplings of different species were planted. In a program organized by Bijay Bikash Shrot Kendra, Dibyapuri VDC, Nawalparasi District, VDC representatives, Political Party representatives, NGO representatives made commitments on the cleaning of public places and protection of the places from waste in the future. The rally organized by the Kendra was attended by more than one thousand five hundred people. Programs Conducted at the Central Level Help in the formulation of a national sanitation program by becoming an active member of the National Sanitation Board. Telecasts of a documentary by Nepal Television (produced by the Fund Board) and the interview of the executive director of the Fund Board Mr. Raj Babu Shrestha regarding the National Sanitation Week. Broadcast of a special program concerned with sanitation on the radio program "Khaskosh" conducted by the Fund Board.

Broadcast by Hits F.M. of a discussion program conducted among representatives working in the field of sanitation and the interview of Mr. Subhas Chandra Acharya, the chief of Human Resource and Program Development Department of the Fund Board. An article printed in the Space Time Daily Newspaper outlining the Aims, Objectives, Policy and the Fund Board's contributions and achievements. Distribution of sanitation equipment to 55 SOs (Support Organizations). Many other SOs and SAs (Service Agencies) which are related to the Fund Development Board conducted local level sanitation programs in association with local VDCs, NGOs, community based organizations and District water supply offices.

Field Report

An intake safe gaurd from landslides constructed by badera water supply and sanitation user's group, Nawalparasi Policy Formulated by Communities for the Sustainability of the Water Supply and Sanitation Project The communities have whole heartedly realized their vital roles in making this water supply and sanitation project effective and sustainable for the long run. The communities have also understood that the project belongs to them and that they have to work to make it sustainable. Regarding this, with the help of RWSSFDB, the following communities have constituted their own rules and regulations for the sustainability of the project. Under the support of RWSSFDB, Badera Water Supply and Sanitation Users Group, after a meeting, has prepared an O & M scheme for the effectiveness and sustainability of the project. The meeting has made a unanimous decision to call its plan, "Badera Water Supply and Sanitation Project Operation and Maintenance Policy 2058", and has decided to include it in the organizations constitution after a session. The meeting has decided that the VMWs (Village Maintenance Workers) and VHPs (Village Health Promoters) selected by the committee must effectively carry out their responsibility, incase of their inability to do so they will be given prior notice by the community. If the notice still goes unheeded, the committee will arrange necessary skilled person to take their place. Users under same scheme will be responsible for the O & M of the intake, collection chamber, washout valve, interruption chamber, main pipeline, sub-pipelines, water collection tank and taps. Other than in special circumstances, the main responsibility of supervision will be of VMW. The meeting has also decided that in case of any vital damage, if needed, all the users will have to contribute their labor according to the decision of WUC. After the completion of the Badera water supply and sanitation scheme, in case of any O & M needed in the structure of pipelines and if the damage is minor, less number of the people will have to work on Tap no. 1 for the first time and on Tap no.2 in the second time and so on. In case of any major damage all the

users have to contribute their labor. If any materials need to be purchased from outside the locality for the maintenance, interest collected from O & M Fund will support financially. If this could not meet then all the users will have to contribute proportional amounts of the deficit to buy quality material. As two VMWs have been selected for the O & M and supervision, each HH (Household) will have to pay Rs. 10 per month for the remuneration and raising the O & M Fund. The VMWs will be paid Rs. 1000 and the RHW (Rural Health worker) will be paid Rs. 150 per month and the rest will be deposited in O & M Fund. The O & M Funds will be constituted by depositing funds received from other sources as well as funds left over after the completion of the project, which then will be transferred in a fixed deposit bank account for a fixed time. The WUC will compulsorily meet once a month to review O & M situation of the project. All members of the user group will meet once a year to review the current status of the project as well as discuss the financial and future plans of the project. People who misuse the pipeline of the project to irrigate their farms will be fined Rs. 5000. To keep clean the school areas, latrines, taps under the project area, the meeting will provide the necessary advice and suggestions. Regarding the protection of source environment, the meeting has decided that if the water sources needed any protection from possible landslides, wire netting will be laid out and afforestation program will be organized. The intake area will be cleaned from the first to the fifth of every month and the immediate area around the intake will be restricted to livestock and unauthorized people. Regarding WTSS (Women Technical Support Service), the meeting has constituted the Badera WTSS group whose 60 members are collecting Rs. 10 per month. There has been a total fund collection of Rs. 20,000 by adding the amount of Rs 10,000 collected by the group together with the Rs. 10,000 contributed by the KHASKOSH. Women have benefited by the fund by taking loans for knitting bags, poultry and goat rearing. To utilize the fund collected by the women in larger scale they will be encouraged in saving schemes as well as other skill oriented programs and will be provided the necessary trainings with the help of other organizations. Besides this, a decision has been taken about the auditing and approval of the accounts of the womens group under the supervision of WUC once a year. As for the household and environmental sanitation, the meeting has decided that all the HHs will have to construct drainage systems compulsorily in the front, back and at the side of all roads in their immediate area. Arrangements have been made to abolish the practice of keeping cows, goats, and poultry inside the house, construction of pits in the ground for cleaning household dishes. There were also campaigns to clean public roads and platforms at least once a month and bury dead animals and poultry in specific places. The meeting has decided to continue the HSE program, which was conducted during the development phase by the supporting organization, through the RHW. And it has also decided to conduct HSE to the Mother Child Tapstand Group 6 times a year and at least once a year the Household Health Supervision. The sum of Rs. 71,250 received from the Fund Board has been utilized for the construction of 130 latrines. After the completion of construction of the remaining household latrines within 3 years; the remaining funds will be deposited in users O & M fund saving account. The meeting has made a unanimous decision to call its plan, "Badera Water Supply and Sanitation Project Operation and Maintenance Policy 2058", and has decided to include it in the organizations constitution after a session. For the effectiveness and sustainability of the project, the meeting has decided to collect Rs. 10 per month per HH that will be deposited into O & M fund. The total sum of Rs. 3,750 collected from the HHs is to be deposited in the bank within the 5th of every month and remuneration will be provided to the VMW and RHW within the 10th of every month. If the funds are not collected within time the VMW will turn off the water supply which will only be turned on once the funds have been collected again. Incase of misuse of water supply the VMW will turn off the supply. Repeated offenders will be fined Rs. 100. In the dry season, incase of the insufficiency of water, VMW will provide water supply at designated

times as decided by the committee. During festivals, marriage receptions, even during the dry season, water will be provided after the consultation with the committee. There is also an arrangement for those people who try to cause any harm for the scheme with an ill intention, in such case, WUC will be able to proceed with appropriate legal action with the concerned authorities. Accordingly, people who steal the spout of the taps will be fined Rs. 500 and first time offenders who damage the structure including the intake and water pond will be made to pay for the damages. Users will be expected to help the VMW in the cleaning of intake, collection chamber, washout, interruption chamber and taps. Vice President Mr. Kishan Bahadur Gurung, Secretary Padam Lal Panth, Treasurer Namita Thapa and Members Laxmi Prasad Pandey, Lok Nath Tiwari, Sita Subedi, Tek Bahadur Bika, Paltu Musahar, Mahesh Chandra Rana, Manju Ale, Tul Bahadur Gurung, and Dilli Ram Risal participated in the meeting.

News
Policy Discussion on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation

A group discussion of the participants Kathmandu, on the 6th of May, 2002, His Majesty's Government, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, has organized a meeting to have strategic discussions with stakeholders regarding policy issues on rural water supply and sanitation. The meeting was organized with a view to gauge the commitment of partner organizations working in this field. The entire aim of the discussions was to provide support to His Majesty's Government to bring about changes to its rural water supply and sanitation policy. The meeting was attended by 34 representatives from Government Bodies, Donor Agencies, INGOs, and NGOs. During the opening session of the one day discussion program, the Joint Secretary of Ministry of Physical Planning and Works and Chairman of Fund Board, Mr. Sohan Sundar Shrestha, in his welcome address, raised four sensitive issues regarding the rural water supply and sanitation sector, namely, (A) Uniformity of policy among service providing agencies, (B) Follow-up and evaluation indicators (C) Budget allocation according to work progress and (D) The role of RWSSFDB and other organizations in rural water supply services. The residential representative of a significant donor agency, Country Director Asian Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Richard Vox, stressed upon the significant role of cooperation among local agencies and INGOs in expanding services and areas for conducting rural water supply schemes. The Country Director of the World Banks office in Nepal, Mr. Kenichi Ohasi, stressed upon the governments need to give prior emphasis on the uniformity of aid and communities contribution, as a matter of policy, in the field of Water Supply and Sanitation. Furthermore, in the program, as Asian Development Bank and World Bank are in the process of making substantial investments in Nepal, it was focused that the government needs to provide specific policy guidelines to agencies working in this sector.

At the end of the opening session, The Secretary of The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, Mr. Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel stated that His Majesty's Government has been invited all NGOs and INGOs to support in the development of the water supply and sanitation sector. As a result of this in the period 1990-1998, a 30% growth was achieved in this area. Mr. Pyakurel claimed in the program that two thirds of the population was currently utilizing the water supply services. He further said that to bring about more effectiveness in the implementation and for a better evaluation process there was a need to develop an effective evaluation system under the National Planning Commission or the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. Mr. Pyakurel, again, claimed that due to the significant participation and competition among the donor agencies and organizations, there has been also a significant growth in participation of the communities. In the second session, the Director of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (Drainage), Mr. Dhruba Bahadur Shrestha presented a work paper. The participants were divided into three groups to conduct discussions on this paper. The three groups discussed the following aspects of the paper: Group (A) Uniformity of Policy among service providing agencies, Group (B) Follow-up and Evaluation indicators and budget allocation according to work progress, Group (C) The role of RWSSFDB and other organizations in rural water supply and sanitation schemes. After discussions, the groups came to the conclusion that although much progress had been made in this sector in the recent years, the achievements were still much below the target projected by the government. 29% of the total population is still deprived from the availability of safe drinking water and 75% of the population is deprived of adequate sanitation services.

Editorial
People in different districts within the Water Supply and Sanitation Scheme area, under the support of Fund Development Board, celebrated the Sanitation Week with a special program in the first week of Jestha. The spontaneous and active participation of the community in different villages and toles cleaning and sanitation awareness programs, will surely leave a long lasting effect on personal and family sanitation. Distribution of leaflets, pamphlets and posters promoting sanitation and cleanliness, conducting school level quiz contests and sanitation songs competitions, and promoting awareness among the people by gathering intellectuals, political leaders and community elders to promote sanitation are definitely commendable examples. Many sections of society have pledged to work for sanitation and cleanliness in their localities. These will surly leave a positive impact on individuals as well as the society. This progression needs to be maintained in the future. For this, all the WUGs, WUCs and SAs need to be commended for their active participation. Likewise, these agencies will also be depended for the evaluation and implementation of the pledges that have been made regarding the sanitation in the days to come. Fund Board is assured that this progress will endure in the future. Another important aspect is the formulation of rules and regulations by the communities themselves with the help of Fund Board regarding the effective and sustainable functioning of the project. This is an exemplary development considered as a great success by the Fund Board. We have decided to publish regularly all the developmental activities from different communities in our newsletter KHASKOSH. In this issue we have presented the developments of Badera Water Supply and Sanitation Users Group. Editorial Adviser: Raj Babu Shrestha Editor: Ravi Kumar Shrestha Contact Address: Khaskosh Newsletter P O Box no. 12414 Panipokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal Phone: 414529, 410761 Fax: 977-1-417899 E-mail: khaskosh@wlink.com.np Website: www.rwss.org