ग र म क ओर. Developing a Model Village with Model Infrastructure. January 2017

Transcription

1 एक क शल ग र म क ओर Developing a Model Village with Model Infrastructure January 2017

2 Infrastructure Strengthening the Foundation for Development of an Adarsh Gram by focusing on Bijli, Sadak aur Pani aur Sauchalaya bhi According to the SAGY guidelines issued by the Ministry of Rural Development, improving the infrastructure and ensuring civic amenities are one of the core components of an Adarsh Gram. It is imperative that an Adarsh Gram has a robust infrastructure network, which powers the rural economy. Accordingly, for Peto to become an Adarsh Gram it is imperative that a strong foundation is laid, wherein the four pillars Bijli, Sadak, Pani and Sauchalaya are strengthened and various stakeholders work together to enable the successful operation and maintenance of the same. This will result in a ripple effect across the entire cluster, which has high economic potential because of the presence of nearby coal mines as well as good agricultural productivity. More importantly, good roads and good electricity supply would result in better economic opportunities for the villagers. Good water and sanitation facilities would contribute to improved quality of life in the village, resulting in less chances of migration to nearby urban centres. This would result in a Kushal aur Saksham Gram. A brief infrastructure profile of the GP has been presented below: RuralRoadconditionis not good; major stretches are in a dilapidated condition. CCroadsneeded Electricity infrastructure is in place but suffers from poor maintenance &upkeep.transformers needtoberepaired. Peto has abundant water bodies, which havealotofpotentialto solve all the domestic water&irrigationneeds Construction and usage of toilets needs to be promoted in a concerted manner. 3 MModelneeded This report presents a comprehensive situational analysis and needs assessment of the infrastructure sector in the GP. It first discusses the condition of roads and also highlights the stretches, which are in immediate need of repair or construction, based on the inputs and received from the end of the PRI members and the community. It then describes the electricity situation and goes on to suggest the required interventions, before finally highlighting the current situation and gaps in the water and sanitation sector.

3 Rural Road Connectivity Creaky and Dilapidated Road Network in Peto Figure 1: The Road Network in Peto and Other Landmarks

4 The condition of internal roads in Peto is very bad. The main road (marked in red in Figure 1) running from Bhadaikhap Chowk to Rahra Talaab, which passes through Neem Chowk, is dilapidated and broken down in several places. Moreover, there is absolutely no road from Rahra Talaab till Dumbhabaghi. This despite the fact that the Mata Sthaan is located on that stretch and there is a major Bhuyan community habitation located here. As a result, the Badkitand Primary School and the AWC, Harijan Tola are also not easily accessible. Bhadaikhap Chowk Neem Chowk Bhadaikhap Chowk is located on the State Highway Number 7, i.e. the Hazaribagh Tandwa Road. This Chowk serves as the focal point of the GP with a bus stop, post office, PDS shop, etc. The picture on the left depicts the main road that leads into the GP from the Bhadaikhap Chowk passing through the Badki Talaab, which is the biggest water body in the GP. On this road, on the left is a connecting lane to old Panchayat Bhawan and on the right is the connecting lane to Durga Mandap. Neem Chowk Rahra Talaab Moving ahead on the main GP road, one reaches the Badki Talaab, which is a T point. On the road leading to the left is the MS, Peto and AWC Purni Peto. This road further goes ahead to the adjoining GP, however, before that there is a right turn at Neem Chowk that leads to Mata Sthaan, as depicted in the picture on the right. There are several landmarks on this road such as the Rahra Talaab, PS Purni Peto, a temple, and proposed model project with library and community centre, which makes it especially important.

5 4 Rahra Talaab Dumbhabaghi The condition of the main road after crossing the Rahra Talaab is extremely poor. As depicted in the picture to the left, the road is completely nonmotorable and issue becomes even more severe during the monsoon season when the path becomes full of mud and slush. Despite this, it is important to focus on building this road as the Mata Sthaan, which is a key pilgrimage spot for the community is located here. Also, the Bhuyan community lives in the surrounding areas and for ensuring their progress, it is imperative to atleast connect them to the other parts of the GP. Constructing the Road from Dumbhabaghi to Rahra Talaab Leveraging PMGSY As one approaches Peto GP from Tandwa, the first entry to the village is at Dumbhabaghi. However, at this point, there is simply no road leading up to the Bhuyan community habitation. Despite the fact that a school and AWC are located along the stretch from Dumbhabaghi to Rahra Talaab and a sizeable population residing in that area, poor road connectivity hampers the progress and growth of the community. In order to address this situation, the construction of a road from Dumbhabaghi to Rahra Talaab is the need of the hour. Accordingly, a possible solution will be to leverage the funds available under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for the construction of the road. As per Circular No. P-17025/37/2013- RC dated 28 th January 2015, the Ministry of Rural Development has amended the guidelines of PMGSY to provide priority to roads, which are part of the PMGSY Core Network, leading to the GPs identified under SAGY to cover eligible unconnected habitations. Therefore, as a next step, the concerned district department should prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and send the same to the state nodal department, which will then forward a consolidated proposal to the Ministry of Rural Development. Further details are attached in Annexure.

6 5 Gram Jyoti, Gaon Jyoti Powering Rural Economy Electricity is a major issue in Peto GP. Most of the households, schools, AWCs, community centers, and other places of public importance are either not connected to the grid or do not get enough distribution throughout the day. The community members shared their concerns over the issue time and again and believe that the lack of access to electricity is a major obstacle in their progress. The unavailability prevents them from utilizing their day to the fullest and achieving the maximum of their potential. The Keredari substation has four feeder lines - Karali, Bukru, Kabed, and Jamira and the Peto GP is currently connected to the Bukru feeder line. However, there is huge demand in the community to get connected to the Karali feeder line, as they believe that it would give them a better access to electricity. On closer interaction with the community members, they shared that this is because the Karali feeder line gets more electricity distribution than the others as the so called operators of the substation are from Karali and benefit their area more. As a next step, without getting into any accusations, the concerned departments should look into the matter to ensure a just and transparent distribution system. Jamira Kabed Bukru Karali Figure 2: The four feeder lines

7 6 As an extension to the previous concern, the community members also shared that the electrified homes in the GP are charged a fixed rate of Rs. 125/- per month for each of the metered connection. However, since they did not get enough electricity supply over the years, they chose not to pay the bills and therefore owe thousands of rupees as an accrued amount to the electricity department. Going forward, the community members want to negotiate with the government officials to either waive off or discount their bills. This is again a pressing issue that requires immediate and urgent attention of the concerned line department. Other than this, there is a transformer of 25 KV lying unutilized in the Primary School Badkitand. The community members living nearby shared that this is because of the snapped wires and fallen poles in the area (broken wire can be seen in the picture below). The transformer was basically installed under the MLALAD funds a few years back, however, because of the severed connection for last one year it is no longer in use. Given the fact that the underlying area in concern is also the primary habitation of the socially and economically vulnerable Bhuyan community, it will be a great boost to them if the transformer can be restored. Similarly, a transformer of 10 KV is also lying unrepaired for the last 2 years in the same neighborhood. Figure 3: The Snapped Wires near the PS Badiktand

8 7 Har Ghar Pani, Yeh hai Gaon ne Maangi An Assessment of Water in Peto The current average Since after digging, Most of the open Talaabs are also the depth of talaabs in the the new depth of defecation in the GP is main venue for GP is around 4-6 ft. As talaabs will be around done around the performing popular they are the most 15 ft., it would be talaabs. As out of Chhath puja and are important source of recommended to habit, people might used as bathing rainwater harvesting, install proper fencing continue visiting the grounds even in day- the community wants around the talaabs. area, thus it would to-day use, thus it the talaabs to be dug Same should also be make more sense to would be better to further by 10 ft. so as done for wells that are install community have proper staircases to store more water. closer to schools and toilets and bath built around them. AWCs. facilities here. Badki Talaab, Chatti Peto (Left) Badki Talaab is the biggest Talaab in the GP (Right) Swaniti team member Utkarsha interacting with the community

9 8 Rahra Talaab, Purni Peto (Left) Rahra Talaab, popular spot for Chhath Puja and close to Mata Sthaan, is a potential model project for the GP (Right) A newly constructed temple adjacent to the talaab Beautification of Rahra Talaab site A Model Project for a Model Village Rahra Talaab, as can be seen from the pictures above and the layout below, is an important water body in the village. Located close to the Mata Sthaan, it also houses a Shiva Temple and the Primary School, Purni Peto as well as a Community Centre. The water body is also the site for Chhath Puja. Now, this water body and the surrounding area can be developed in a comprehensive manner, as proposed in Figure 5 below. This would first and foremost include increasing the depth of the lake through MGNREGS as well as constructing a staircase on the side of the temple. Also, there is a toilet complex, which has bath and toilet facilities, and it can be renovated so that it can have changing facilities for women and men post Chhath Puja celebrations. The exteriors of the complex can be painted with Kobad artwork. The area around the temple should be leveled and paver block tiles should be installed so that the area is beautified. More importantly, the new primary school building is lying unused and can be developed as a community library and skill development centre. It can also house a Common Service Centre, which can be run by a person belonging to the People with Disabilities (PwD) category.

10 9 Figure 4: The Layout of Rahra Talaab

11 10 Figure 5: The Proposal for Model Project

12 11 Swachh Peto, Swastha Peto A Mission Mode Approach towards an Open Defecation Free Peto Peto is one of the 16 GPs in the Keredari Block of Hazaribagh district that is yet to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). As of October 5, 2016, the IHHL% coverage in the GP was 69.3%, implying that 492 HHs still did not have access to proper toilets out of the total of 1,601 HHs surveyed earlier in the Within Peto, open defecation is quite prominent and evident around the existing water bodies Talaabs of the GP, which is even a bigger concern given the bacteriological contamination caused because of it. The issue of sanitation is not only restricted to the lack of toilet facilities but also to the fact that a lot of people who have access to toilets in their homes are still not using it. A part of this problem could be because of the poor water facilities at house hold level; however, the more underlying issue is the lack of awareness among the community members about the side-effects of open defecation. Therefore, the need of the hour is to a) sensitize the community members about the need of having and using toilets and generating the demand from within b) provide access to proper toilets facilities to all the households and ensure supply for the same. In order to make this happen, in convergence with the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), there are several wonderful initiatives that have been taken by the district administration, which we believe are unique and effective and should thus be scaled up. Organizing Raatri Chaupal LtoR:TheDirector,DRDAsharinghisthoughtsonsanitation;communitymembersbeingaddressed

13 12 Raatri Chaupal is a unique initiative of the District Administration for motivating the rural people to make and use toilets. In a Raatri Chaupal, the Deputy Commissioner along with other senior officers visit a block every Friday evening and address the community on the need of sanitation and the processes they can adopt to get their toilets built. Till date, multiple Raatri Chaupals have been organized across all the blocks of the district and the block officials have also taken similar initiatives at the GP level. Going forward, it is important that such sessions take place in Peto and the community members attend the proceedings. Sensitizing the officials and PRI members LtoR:TheMemberofParliamentfromHazaribagh,Mr.JayantSinha,addressingtheworkshopheldforPRI membersonsanitation;asessionorganizedbythedistrictadministration Various sessions and workshops are also being organized at the Commissionary, District, Block, and GP Level to sensitize the officials and PRI members on the need for sanitation and eradication of open defecation. To underpin this message and fasten the process to make the district ODF, a discussion on sanitation also takes place in all official meetings. Going forward, it would be important to make sure that all the officials from the Keredari block and PRI members from Peto GP have attended atleast one such workshop and are able to implement the learning. Plan 1: Organize a Raatri Chaupal in Peto GP to create awareness about sanitation among villagers and create champions Plan II: Capacity Building for PRI members to effectively implement and monitor work under SBM

14 13 Adopting the 3M Approach As specified above, according to the baseline survey, 492 HHs in Peto still do not have access to proper toilet facilities. To make sure that these numbers are correct and also to leave no household uncovered, a new baseline survey is also being conducted by the district administration, results of which will be compiled soon. Presently, to ensure that all the resources are available with the community members to build toilets, there is a need to leverage the 3 Model in the GP and create an ecosystem, which is able to deliver the intended results. This should focus on community participation and empowerment as well as easy access to required raw materials and credit, if necessary. Mason& People from across the district, including the Peto GP, are being trained to work as labourers and masons for the construction of toilets. Till date, the district has roughly 610 trained masons. Efforts are also being made to ensure that local people from the GP, especially from the vulnerable communities such as the Bhuyans, are able to find enough work locally so as to curb their migration. Material& Rural Sanitation Marts (RSMs) are being developed at each Block, including Keredari, to ensure that enough material is available and supplied to those who want to construct toilets. The district will then provide material to these RSMs at a subsidized rate keeping a fixed margin for them. For this purpose, PDS Shops and SHGs are being identified from the Peto GP to develop them as RSMs. Money& In order to ensure that money does not a become hindrance in achieving ODF and to best utilize the funds under SBM, it has been decided to disburse these funds to the respective Blocks and GPs. Accordingly, BDOs will get INR 5 lacs and GPs (the VWSCs) will get INR 2 lacs to construct toilets in their areas. The district has also partnered with local banks to give loans of Rs 5,000 for the construction of toilets.

15 Annexure I Change to PMGSY Guidelines 14

16 DISCLAIMER: Swaniti Initiative makes every effort to use reliable and comprehensive information, but Swaniti does not represent that the contents of the report are accurate or complete. Swaniti is a non-profit, non-partisan group. This document has been prepared without regard to the objectives or opinions of those who may receive it.