| People residing in the school faliya of Jogvel village of Valsad district faced severe drinking water problems. They sourced water from 'khankas' (small holes dug in the ground) and as each khanka dried up they would dig new ones. Once Dhakalbhai, a resident of the faliya got details of the Swajaldhara programme through television and the local office of water supply, people, in a very short time, collected Rs 60,000 as the community contribution for the scheme, since it served their most urgent need. Somebody offered land for construction of the ESR, while another person donated land for the pump house, stand post and the cattle trough.
The community decided to do the work themselves, with the women not far behind. Taking interest in all the work, they even ventured out of the village to get construction materials like bricks and steel etc. from different places. People contributed in the form of labour and also supervised the work very diligently. Pani Samiti meetings were held regularly and Gram Sabhas were called for all important decisions and sharing information on the expenditure.
Water is now available round the clock at the two stand posts, while 25 households in the faliya have got house connections through which they get water for 15 minutes twice in a day. To keep the area near the ESR clean, the people have constructed a small concrete platform at the base. Vanitaben Somabhai says, "Prior to the scheme we had to drink turbid water that we got from the khankas and in summer we had to dig new khankas regularly. The house connections have now really eased our lives. And even on special occasions water is available round the clock at the stand post."
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