CAG-led Monsoon preparedness and water management in Ranchi
CAG-led Monsoon preparedness and water management in Ranchi
June 16, 2021adminBlog, Featured NewsNo Comments
Mahila Housing Trust forms Community Based Organizations (CBO) of 150-250 households in each slum community and women leaders from this group, form the Community Action Group (CAG) who collectively work for slum upgradation work.
The Anjali Mahila Mandal CAG in Lohra Kocha Tharpakna, Ranchi function with 12 women leaders and 3 adolescent girls worked towards Monsoon preparedness and water management by urging permanent covering of open drains on roads and reviving a community well to enable copious supply of water in coming times.
MHT conducts capacity building workshops for CAG members. They are guided on addressing their issues to local administration for upgrading community’s quality of life. In continuation to these workshops, the CAG sensed the challenges of the community, and approached the MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) with their concerns on water management in their slum.
The CAG-led the community urged C P Singh, MLA to support them in reviving a community well which was damaged and stores water for not more than 1.5 feet. They also urged him to get RCC slabs to cover the open drains on both sides of street, so that like before, the dirty water doesn’t flow on streets mixed with rain-water.
The damaged community well hardly caters to the water needs of the community. The community currently have access to water through individual tap water at household level or they fill water in jars/buckets/barrels by queuing up at the stand-post. The CAG enabled repair of the walls of this well, got it dug upto 70 feet and it is now expected that the water accumulated in it, will be resourceful. The CAG women visions that Monsoon shall lead to storage of water in this which will be useful even in later months.
Support of administration is also significant because they also considered community’s safety while reviving the well for community to make use of it as a water-resource. A parapet wall of 5 feet is also constructed so no casualty to humans, animals can be caused by slipping off.
While the streets of the slum are narrow and there were open drains, the downpour at the low-lying area caused water logging for a day or two which led to monsoon water getting mixed with drain water making the community susceptible to filth and unpleasant smell for days together. Because the drains would not be visible, incidents of people being slipped off there, have happened. These drains are permanently covered with RCC slabs and the community is hoping to not have unpleasant smell in coming Monsoon.
Women collectives leading slum upgradation assures as long-term solution enabling community participation.
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