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Backed by the Community Aid and Sponsorship Programme (CASP)-PLAN, Bhopal's slum children, trained by Unicef, are taking the initiative and holding workshops on the importance of clean drinking water and sanitation
When Community Aid and Sponsorship Programme (CASP)-PLAN's Bhopal office decided to send a child for Unicef training on water and sanitation, it did so hoping that the child would internalise the message. And that it would eventually percolate to family and friends within the community. They underestimated 12-year-old Jyoti Sahu's dedication. After training, Jyoti returned to her small tenement in Bhopal's Rahul Nagar slums. At a meeting of the bal palika (children's parliament set up by CASP-PLAN) she discussed her project and began training other members of the palika. Soon, a group of like-minded children was formed. Over 10 days, the group surveyed a large part of their slum to see how people stored water; whether they washed their hands before cooking and eating; and more important, what their sanitation habits were. The last day of the exercise culminated in a rally in the slum, with a focus on the significance of clean drinking water and proper sanitation. Says project spokesperson Archana Bondriya: "The decision of not sending an official (in place of) Jyoti to the workshop has paid off." CASP-PLAN had already set up three bal palikas -- Jagruk, Adarsh and Ekta -- in Bhopal's Shyam Nagar, Rahul Nagar and Pampapur slum clusters. Today, small initiatives by the children in these slums have led to CASP-PLAN hosting what could be the first such workshop by children, addressing children's concerns. At the three-day workshop, hosted for children by children (not only from the CASP-PLAN project but also from other voluntary organisations) the adults were amazed at the children's grasp of complex issues such as the importance of water and sanitation and personal hygiene. Also, with their demands for a life of dignity. A number of CASP-PLAN's efforts, like those of other voluntary agencies in Bhopal, have taken shape with support from Unicef. At a time when Bhopal is battling an apathetic local administration, small initiatives like these drive home the importance of every individual doing his or her bit for a cleaner, better city. The arrival of the monsoons in Bhopal emphasised the importance of clean drinking water and the crucial link between drinking water supply and solid waste management. That this aspect has been neglected by the administration is evident from the diarrhoea-related deaths in Kotra Sultanabad and, more recently, in Bagh Dilkusha, both localities largely deprived of civic amenities. Says Ashim Chowla, a development expert based in Bhopal: "It invariably follows that if something goes wrong with even one aspect of the sanitation process, it impacts the entire sanitation system. For example, if you have a sewer but not enough water, the sewage will not flow. On the other hand, if you have sewage flowing through a sewer and someone throws solid waste into the system, the sewage will not flow. All these aspects are therefore closely linked." A cursory look at the civic amenities in this 'City of Lakes' tells it all: ruptured drinking water pipes, temporary dwellings close to water sources, and no provision to meet the sanitation needs of lakhs of people who live in slum clusters all over the city. A perfect recipe for the outbreak of any epidemic, with disastrous consequences. Alongside the problem of safe potable water is the issue of safe disposal of human waste. Sahikya and Baby, like a thousand other women in Bhopal's slums, both get up at 4 am to relieve themselves and to organise the day's supply of water for domestic chores. Or, take the young bride who lives in a Char Imli slum, adjoining the posh Char Imli area where most of the state's bureaucrats live. Dressed in a bright sari, she walks through the woods with two younger family members -- both girls -- to defecate. This, despite a functional Sulabh complex in the area. Sanitation is about three basic kinds of services -- the safe disposal of faecal matter, solid waste and wastewater. Faecal matter is got rid of in two ways: first, from a household environment into a latrine; and secondly, from the settlement or the community via a sewerage system or a septic tank. Either way, some sort of decomposition or transportation has to happen to get rid of the waste matter. Sewage and drainage inevitably come together at some time in the entire sanitation process. Says Dr Kazmi, coordinator of the Ankur project in the Gandhinagar slum: "When we began work here three years ago, there was no concept of personal, family or environment hygiene." During the monsoons, the slums become doubly unhygienic "with literally no access into the slum". The efforts of children like Jyoti have been appreciated not only within the community but also by a number of celebrities in the city. Sample this: A group of children, aware that their homes were losing a lot of water because of leaking taps, used their newly-acquired skills to get people in the slum to contribute towards the repair work. Although they managed to get only a few taps repaired, a beginning had been made and awareness created. When Shakuntala Sharma, member of the Human Rights Commission, visited the area she is said to have remarked: "If little children have been able to achieve this much, why can't able people (read 'officials concerned') carry out their duties?" Contact: CASP-PLAN Project, Bhopal
E-2/145, Arera Colony
Bhopal 462011
Tel: 0755-272894/ 0755-272895
Fax: 0755-272896
Email: pu.bhopal@plan_international.org Archana Bondriya
Project Director
CASP-PLAN, Madhya Pradesh
E- 7/650, Arera Colony
Bhopal 462011 -- Aditya Malaviya (Aditya Malaviya is a journalist based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh) InfoChange News & Features, October 2003
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