People have constructed toilets and bathroom as water is easily available now

The Tekri falia (habitation) of Ambatalaat, a tribal village of Dharampur block of the South Gujarat district of Valsad proudly claims that for the last five years they have been enjoying a 24x7 supply of water. For a habitation located in the eastern hilly belt of Gujarat, which faces water scarcity because of high run-off rates, in spite of some of the heaviest rains in the State, this is surely a matter of pride, since it is the people’s participation that they have been able to completely transform their situation.

'I can spend more time now for my daughters' -Urmilaben Bhoya

But five years ago the scene was very different. The only hand pump in the hamlet was defunct and people used to fetch water from ‘veris’ and ‘khankas’ (shallow pits dug in a river bed). The summer in particular was very difficult and the women used to spend an average of 2-3 hours for getting water. When Navinbhai Bhoya and active member of the habitation learnt about the Swjaladhara programme from a neighbouring village, he was hopeful of being able to do something for his own community. But when he brought up the subject of a contribution, a few of the people were not interested. Collecting the contribution was difficult, but finally the people decided to pay partly in cash and partly through labour and managed to deposit Rs. 8000/- as their contribution. People decided to have bore based pipe water supply scheme. The water from the bore is stored in a ground level cistern of 10,000 litres capacity and is supplied at each doorstep through a household connection.
 

Local varieties of greens grown by the people of Ambatalat take care of their requirements

The 24x7 supply of water has been maintained for the last five years. The only time there was a breakdown, it was due to disruption in the power supply during heavy rains. Yet the people managed the supply by laying simple rules. They collected just enough water for drinking, directly from the cistern, while the distribution to the households was discontinued for a few days. For other uses they resorted to the rain water. One of the community members has taken the responsibility of operating the system right from his home, thus doing away with the need for a separate operator. Each household pays an O&M tariff of Rs. 100 per year, through which they are able to cover the electricity charges.

With adequate water available at the doorsteps, practically every house has developed a small kitchen garden for use of wastewater and kitchen waste to cultivate vegetables such as onions, brinjals, tomatoes and local varieties of greens. Thus, most of their family requirements are met within the village itself. Kanku Bhoya, one of the village residents, says, “The water availability has helped me become self-reliant. I am able to use the 5-6 hours that I would normally spend on fetching water to take up vegetable vending and generate some income.” She buys fresh vegetables from Dharampur, a nearby town, and sells them at the market in Valsad, the district headquarters. Each time she undertakes this venture she earns upto Rs. 100.