Waste Water Governance : Dream becomes reality - A case study of Baindi village of District Yamunanagar, Haryana
Description
The practice of managing the waste water was carried out in village Baindi of District Yamunanagar, Haryana during the period April, 2016 to October, 2018. This best practice was adopted by the villagers due to the hazards arising from the filthy over flowing ponds, water logged streets and improper disposal of waste water in the village. The management of waste water in a safe and sustainable manner was the major challenge for them. The practice is about reducing the toxicity and environmental threat, and to reuse the water for agriculture, fisheries and recharging the ground water at low maintenance.
The village Panchayat of Baindi is known for its efforts for the welfare of its people. Keeping this background in mind, village Panchayat decided to adopt the strategy to manage waste water with the objectives :<br />
• To study the best suitable method for waste water management by involving stakeholders and<br />
• To prevent human contact from hazards of accumulated waste water and to promote better health by adopting long term sustainable approach. <br />
Agenda SDG 2030, Sustainable Development Goal - 6 Ensures availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, The adoption of the practice of five pond system for the treatment and reuse of waste water in an efficient and sustainable manner is the response to SDG 6. <br />
Traditionally the ponds have been an important part in the villages, considered as the life line. They are essential for cattles, fisheries and ground water recharging etc. Over the years these ponds were converted into cess ponds due to discharged waste water, deposition of sludge inhibiting the ground water recharging, solid waste dumps and bad odour. <br />
Water is a precious resource for the mankind, the goal under “Swachh Bharat Mission” is to manage the waste water in an efficient and sustainable manner. It can be done by protecting the natural resources and avoiding polluting the water. <br />
State Government in its effort to identify best suitable methods and technologies for Liquid Waste Management focuses on maximum reuse of such waste for agriculture purposes with least operation and maintenance costs. At present, waste stabilization Ponds (WSP) technology has been successfully adopted which is a simple & effective system for treatment of waste water collected via drainage system. <br />
This technology has been executed at Baindi village of Yamuna Nagar, which has 400 households. <br />
The treatment ponds are filled with waste water emerging from the house hold usage and containing faecal matter. This sewage treatment removes contaminants from wastewater and household sewage. <br />
A green belt is developed in the area surrounding the pond. This has led to improvement in hygiene as the waste and treated sludge from the pond is used for agriculture (manure) and many other purposes such as biomass. It is easily replicable in the other villages for adoption After successful execution of this technology, this village has got rid of accumulated waste water, which was overflowing at various places in the village. The filthy site has been converted into a green belt and an healthy environment has been created.<br />
The Sarpanch of the village is of the view that this system has provided clean and healthy environment and the villagers are breathing in fresh air. It looks like we have got new lungs with the help of administration.” The villagers are benefitted from the park created around the system.” And the clean environment
The Sarpanch took the initiative to execute the project, five pond system despite many obstacles like insufficient funds, it took more than two years to complete, this project which is an outstanding example of people’s participation. Partnership among administration, elected representatives and beneficiaries laid the foundation for success. People’s involvement engaged them for improving the well being of the village.
(Newspaper cutting as testimony is annexed)
The major problem of the village was waste pilling up in all the public places . The filthy site of overflowing ponds and water logged streets was usual scenario. Gram Panchayat was desperate to solve the problem; the introduction of five pond technology of treating the waste water came as a rescue to panchayat. After going through the benefits of this technology the Panchayat took an initiative on April 2016 and completed with the beautification etc. on October 2018. A proper disposal of this untreated water through a Waste Stabilization Ponds (five pond system) was created.
The five pond system, as per the title , has five ponds namely anaerobic, facultative and maturation pond. “The system is designed to achieve different forms of treatment in up to five stages in series, depending on the organic strength of the input waste and the effluent quality objectives. Effluent from first-stage anaerobic ponds will over flow into secondary facultative ponds, which comprise the second stage of biological treatment. Further facultative ponds, maturation ponds will be introduced to provide tertiary treatment. The activity in the WSP is a complex symbiosis of bacteria and algae, which stabilizes the waste and reduces pathogens.” (Source- Hand book on Solid and Liquid waste Management in Rural Areas of Haryana) The result of this biological process is to convert the organic content of the effluent to more stable and less offensive forms.
The waste water so collected is made to pass through five ponds, excavated at suitable land site, and placed serially to act as a stabilization system in which gray water is stabilized, its pathogenicity is reduced and stabilized and the water becomes usable.
This system has five ponds namely:-
Anaerobic
Alternate Anaerobic
Facultative
Maturation
2nd maturation
This water needs to be treated before adding into the surrounding natural filter systems like swamps and it produces a disposable effluent without causing harm to the environment and it also prevents pollution. Besides providing clean environment to the villagers, the five pond system recharges the underground water as well.
To have a smooth supply of water, the ponds have been cemented, submersible motors are installed for water and pipelines are laid in the agricultural land of the village. In addition to this the drains were concretised and there are sewage lines being laid and made operational. The village can boast of having NO OPEN DRAINAGE.
The effective monitoring mechanism is also in placed, CCTV camera are installed to monitor the progress of managing the waste at various locations of the village. Now nobody can throw cow dung on the road and get away with it. The CCTV coverage is accessible 24/7 to Sarpanch and other elected members; it has contributed to the improvement of law and order also.
There are different ways of setting up motioning to ensure belter use of project by involving users. Therefore, work related with specific sites has been decentralized to the volunteers, elected members for the effective monitoring, which is directly related to the resources and quality of service provided.
Instead of the dirty, filthy village with overflowing waste water and garbage ladden corners, the village poses a perfect, neat, clean picture with tiled outer road (Firni) of the village and plantation being in process. The Gram Panchayat has also achieved the two important targets of “SDG Goal 6 substantially, access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and an end to open defecation, specially for women and girls, giving equal status to them. Secondly by improving the quality of water by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials and reducing the proportion of untreated waste water and substantially increasing recycling and safe re-use”.
Unavailability of sanitation is clear marker of inequality and disadvantage, also unsafe management of waste water and excreta poses threat of diseases and degrade the eco systems and services they provide.
Village Baindi has improved hygiene as it manages its own waste treated steps from the ponds which can be used as manure for agriculture as such as other benefits such as source of bio mass for electricity generation.
By adoption of WSP (Water Stabilization Ponds) technology the village has successfully improved social economic profile. They have been successful in their efforts towards improved infrastructure in terms of building banquet hall and panchayat shops for income generation. Seamless and dedicated efforts have been put for all pucca streets in the village. Solar Lights are also being encouraged to save energy. At present there are five big lights at the main crossings of the village and 14 small ones are installed in the streets. ( Pictures of before and after status are annexed )
The panchayat has taken the initiative of providing safe and clean drinking water by installing three water cooler along with commercial R.Os.
There is 100% enrolment of children in school. The Village School is well equipped with the modern and essential facilities such as R.O for water purification, well managed and clean class rooms, playground, gardens and separate toilets for girls and boys.
The village also has a gymnasium. Besides these positivities the people below poverty line have been provided with houses under PMAY. Presently four Acres of land has been marked for play ground. Proposal for mini stadium has also been sent for approval to the Government.
The Sarpanch of village seeks to develop Baindi into a Smart Village having excellence and good governance at the grass root. The achievements have proved that he is moving in the right direction.
The pond site has also been converted into a green belt with healthy environment.
Before the pond system came into existence there was lot of inconvenience due to bad odour and unhygienic conditions due to stagnant waste water and filth.
The people of the village are of the view that the changed Scenario has given a new lease to their lives.
“The case for investing in sustainable sanitation is growing stronger. It is already well established that appropriate sanitation and waste water management can pay for itself many times over due to reduced health care costs and associated increases in productivity (WHO2012a).”
The statement truly manifests itself in the vision of the Sarpanch. Who has exemplary leadership qualities. He has viewed this issue in totality and not in isolation by taking other factors into consideration and it has led to the holistic development of the village.
The movement of change, which started with the passionate vision of the village Sarpanch has brought elements of accessibility, acceptability and safety in using managed sanitation services. Social movement grew with the mobilization and active involvement of the community.
Community engages people to win real changes for themselves. Many obstacles were also faced by the Panchayat. The real challenge was changing the mindset of the people. Panchayat had to generate its own funds and use them for the project, as it did not have sufficient funds available.Gram Panchayat has been successful in its efforts towards waste water management, sanitation, employment generation and infrastructure development. Keeping the cleanliness campaign Swacch Bharat Abhiyan as a priority, various measures have been taken to promote cleanliness drive in the village to encourage the initiative and progress of the village. The construction of five pond system generated employment and Panchayat was successful in providing clean potable water to the households through taps installed at number of places . The Honourable Prime Minister of India has also tweeted and motivated by sending his massage on the successful efforts. (Paper cutting is annexed)
“Social movements are at once the
symptoms and instruments of progress”
Walter Lippmon
Such movement building has been seen in Baindi through community organizing and mobilization. Since it is not confined only to the boundaries of the village and has spread over to engage much wider group of people in a much broader demand for changes and spread like a social movement. It is desirable to assume that such mass movements for environment, health and sanitation can grow strategically from community at the grass root level.
There are a plethora of innovative approaches to address human development challenges, especially in the context of conserving water hygiene and sanitation. The challenge for practice to be defined as “Good Practice” is the ability to lead to an actual change, have an impact on the environment, social parameters, replicability and sustainability (ability to self-support).
The scenario at the village Baindi was such that it showed transformation. The free flowing dirty water accumulated on the streets has literally gone down the drains into the five pond system. The outer road of the village has been uplifted by 5/6 fts and had become tiled and plantation work is in progress. (pictures uploaded). The trash and garbage is being collected and kept at an assigned site alongwith this initiative came the concept of hygiene and health. Village has a dispensary where the doctor visits every day, all the children are immunised and the institutional preferred in the villager. The village is open defecation free and sewage lines are being put. The efficiency of any development plan/initiative is determined by its capacity to tackle the problem and ensure sustainability. It has been possible through people’s participation, involvement and support. Strategic and deliberate engagement of the community generates high level of trust and improves ownership and leads to sustainability. Funds have been generated by the panchayat and every body likes to be the part of the clean and green environment and work towards the prosperity of the village. This model is easily replicable and has been already initiated at many nearby places
Most Gram Panchayats are the Primary agency to perform the traditional civic services like sanitation, water supply, roads, street lights, play grounds, parks, etc.<br />
Ward wise plans have been prepared by involving all the stakeholders by Panchayat to achieve the Goals. <br />
The initiatives taken by the Gram Panchayat of Baindi show how the involvement of community from planning to execution enabled an accurate understanding of the problems. Further it integrated the concerns of the ultimate beneficiaries into strategies and activities.<br />
Decentralizing of the work process helped in reviewing the strategies and avoid errors and also engage the community in a useful way to generate their higher levels of acceptance, trust and accountability. The Gram Panchayat and the Sarpanch ensured improved efficiency through decentralization accompanied by devolution of authority and responsibility. It also enhances commitment and enables better monitoring. Besides this convergence between different functionaries and coordinated implementation of different schemes made efficient use of limited resources. <br />
Strategies addressing a gamut of interrelated concerns are far more effective and sustainable and often have unlimited consequences which can be evident from the fact that one initiative led to the other SDG Goals i.e. 3, 4 and 5, which ensures healthy life and well being, quality education and gender equality.<br />
The potential of information and Communication Technologies in Development is well known common service centre is one of the mission mode project. A large number of services are being provided to the villagers through CSCs. Atal Sewa Kendra has been functioning in the village and providing online services to the citizens such as pension, Adhar Card, Pan Card and other Government Certificates in the village. <br />
The waste water management in the village has been used as an initiative for resource management, implying to keep the natural resources for productive use and broader sustainability. Managing the waste water and providing sustainable sanitation to the villagers has brought economic as well as social and environmental benefits. <br />
Sanitation has always enabled development throughout history by helping to keep population healthy, sustainable sanitation and waste water management might lead to the foundation of fulfilling 2030 agenda
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Dr Rachna Gupta &amp; Dr Manveen Kaur Gupta &amp; Kaur, Waste Water Governance : Dream becomes reality - A case study of Baindi village of District Yamunanagar, Haryana”