Outlook Spotlight

Women Emerging Tall As Saviors Of Water, Environment In Villages

Whether water conservation or ensuring tap water supply in homes or waste management, India has a plethora of stories to narrate how women in villages are helping the government programmes of ODF Plus and Jal Jeevan Mission. In the process they are able to achieve their own goals of being able to help educate their children and help many earn a livelihood

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Women emerging tall as saviors of water, environment in villages
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 For most people living in cities and town with access to regular tap water supply, even if for few hours a day, it is unimaginable how women in many parts of the country still have to walk a long distance to fetch water or line up in front of a tap early in the morning or evening to fill a bucket of water for household use.  Ministry of Jal Shakti on March 4, 2023, honored  several women who, undaunted by life’s challenges, have found solutions to not only build and nurture water bodies but also help supply water to the homes of people in their villages thereby eliminate the drudgery of having to spend hours fetching water. In addition to water management – including testing, the women awardees have been working and creating awareness about the need to safeguard the health of people and environment through management of all kinds of waste- liquid, solid, biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

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Presenting the ‘Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023’ President of India Droupadi Murmu urged the 36 women champions of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to carry tales of success and courage of fellow awardees to their villages to inspire others to follow environmentally friendly practices in the field of cleanliness and water conservation. Among the winners are sarpanches, swachhagrahis, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) members, Pani Samiti members, Jal Vahini village leaders, water warriors and members of women Self-Help Groups (SHG).

The range and type of work undertaken by these women and the leadership qualities displayed by them is inspirational. Babita Gupta, a SHG representative from Rupanpatti Mathurapur GP, in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen, has demonstrated how plastic waste can be utilized for making decorative products. This has not only helped her to earn an income to support her family but also been environmentally beneficial as it helps to reduce plastic waste.

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Bishnupriya Mahakud, sarpanch of Sujanpur gram panchayat in Jajpur district of Odisha, has been generating awareness of segregation, disposal, the treatment and composting of waste at the household and community level with the help of SHGs. Her leadership has transformed 4 villages - Durgapur, Hasanpur, Kashipur and Sujanpur - with a population of about 8,000 to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus model. Today not only households but also the shopkeepers, institutions and schools are participating in keeping all public areas clean by segregating waste at source and composing biodegradable waste.

Dulari Kujur, Swachagrahi in Rampur gram panchayat, North and Middle Andaman, has been helping collect waste from Karmatang Ward of the gram panchayat and transporting it to the solid and liquid waste management cluster at Karmatang and helping in the segregation into different categories to assist in the recycling process. Given that the islands are popular tourist attractions, Kujur realizes the detrimental effects of waste, particularly plastic, on human health and environment.
These are not the only women leaders who have been given recognition for their work in making their villages ODF Plus model. Some of the others include Gadge Meenakshi, sarpanch of Mukhra K village in Adilabad District of Telangana, Geeta Devi, sarpanch of Pallanwala Lower Gram Panchayat (GP) in Jammu District of Jammu and Kashmir, Geeta Vinod Pawar, gram panchayat member of Dhupatmahagao GP in Bidar District of Karnataka, Harjinder Kaur Kahlon, sarpanch of Peroshah GP in Gurdaspur District of Punjab, Kavita Devi, sarpanch of Purara GP in Bageshwar District of Uttarakhand, Anita Gopesh Sahu, sarpanch of Patora GP in Durg District of Chhattisgarh, Neelam Singh, sarpanch of Bharatpur in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh. This list goes on. Hailing from different parts of the country, what is common is their success in overcoming deep-seated cultural resistance to women’s participation in decision making to bring about major changes in the villages that benefits all. From helping with the construction of household toilets to community sanitary complexes to waste segregation and management these women have been at the forefront of community efforts. Many have managed to get rid of the mosquito and other water borne diseases while creating importance about community participation including user fees to utilize sanitation and water facilities. Many of them have received training in the various projects they undertake in their villages including planning nutria-gardens and plantations within the anganwadi centres.

Similarly, remarkable work is being done by women in the villages across the country under the Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide clean drinking water through tap connections in every household. “If you are not alert now, then you may have to yearn for water in the coming times. Decreasing groundwater is indicating this,” states Anita Chaudhary, Village Water Sanitation Committee (VWSC) member of Garhmau Village GP in Chhindwar District of Madhya Pradesh. Today every household in Garhmau village has a tap connection and women are working to sensitize people about the need to conserve water.

K. Asha, panchayat president of Alinjivakkam Village GP in Thiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu, works to ensure that overhead tank facilities in the village works smoothly to ensure water supply to people at the right time. The users have to pay a fixed charge every month. All grievances are resolved by her. Similarly, Munni Devi, sarpanch of Pithoria GP in Ranchi District of Jharkhand plays a crucial role in ensuring tap water connection and quality water supply to every household. Again monthly user charges have to be collected from every household.

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Rosalina C. Borges works as Assistant Engineer in the Work Division of water supply which has jurisdiction of 12 constituencies of Salcate and Mormugao Taluka in Goa. She also looks after three municipal councils. She is part of the division that looks after not only the technical work but also estimation, tendering, design of water supply schemes, execution of works, monitoring of water quality, billing and revenue collection. Rosalina feels “blessed” to be part of the noble cause of providing water through taps at the people’s doorsteps.

Water is common among these water conservators and Har Ghar Jal programme implementers is their dedication to the cause. Shaikh Mannbi Mujaffer Patel, sarpanch of Hingani Haveli Village in Nandur Haveli GP in Beed District of Maharashtra takes pride in ensuring that there is no leakage or wastage in the system. Along with other women of the village, she visits homes of villagers to sensitize the villages on the importance of safe drinking water and its judicious use. People in the cities and town who take drinking water supply for granted need to learn from these “jal surakshaks” or water soldiers.

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