WIN Nutrition Approach – Community-centred and owned

 

Author – WIN Foundation

 

Background

 

Rural, tribal and urban slum areas face following challenges:

 

(i) lack of maintenance of Commons and civic services and

(ii) Poor quality of life and work.

 

The government, central and states, private charities and multilateral organizations including UN bodies, have, over decades, launched many schemes for social impact, many of them multiple times, repeating process and programs over years.

 

In spite of this the results are not satisfactory. The major reason for this is that the top down approach of most of the programs do not inculcate change in competencies, behaviour and habits. Due to this, the changes sought are not  sustained.

 

Community led approaches

 

Four key elements that affect social change are the environment, technology, social institutions, and communities. These elements are interlinked with each other.

Environment

• With our overstretched resource usage, living in harmony with nature using appropriate technology are important for sustainable development, economic growth and

 

Technology

• Combining traditional local knowledge with scientific knowledge and innovations at community level will enable development of new sustainable approaches, optimised to local needs. Indigenous knowledge is also important for the conservation of biodiversity.
• Indigenous knowledge is also a potential source for the conservation of biodiversity.
• People involvement in this process is essential for acceleration of change through scaling and replication.

 

Community ownership encourages and enables:

• Responsibility and accountability at local levels, aided by skilling and leadership development, bringing sharp focus on local customer and community needs.
• Adoption of innovative technology and delivery models, refined continuously over time through local trials, generating local evidence.
  
• Co-operation, coordination and collaboration between the stakeholders at the community level to bring greater awareness and better habits.

 

Social Institutions and other organisations enable community ownership process through:

• Creating Space for Community Ownership and leadership within communities.
• Bring institutional resources to the table, to bring different competencies to the community participants with a strong focus on experiential learning, skilling and leadership development. For this institutions have to reorient their own staff on principles of community ownership, local entrepreneurship, and customer centricity, as a key driver for sustainable change.
• Continuously monitor and refine process to close the gap between intention and impact.
• Encourage community voice; speak up to make change..
• Creating equitable and just solutions is not just people work, it’s heart work.
• Documentation of processes and results to help replication and scaling

 

 

WIN  Foundation Nutrition projects

 

WIN Foundation has taken Community centred approach with aim for Community ownership, to the nutrition problem.

 

Nutrition status in most parts of the country remains challenging. In spite of several programs for improving nutrition, lack of habit formation in nutrition food habits which, has led to poor nutrition outcomes. To add to this, we also face the adverse effect of

(i) Mass input driven agriculture, leading to reduction of food diversity, a very critical requirement for balanced nutrition,

(ii) High volume processed food products, tasty but low on nutrition, which have reached remote corners of the country. This has developed vested interests in food industry.

 

Our approach envisions a community which takes charge of nutrition needs and overcomes above challenges.

 

The Twin Challenges for Maternal and Child Health in India: Iron & Proteins, and Technology driven Local Solutions

Author – Dr.Bhaskar Datta, Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, India.

India accounts for the highest number of undernourished people in the world totalling close to 200 million. Steady improvements have been made between 2004-06 and 2018-20 with India recording one of the highest reductions in total number of undernourished in Southern Asia. Malnourishment is a multi-factorial challenge and the steady reduction in total number of malnourished individuals points to overall improvements in health practices and access to clean water and nutritious food. Nevertheless, the most profound effects of malnourishment are observed in children below 5 years and women of reproductive age. Nearly 30% children in the 0-5 year age-group are stunted while 53% women are affected by varying degree of anaemia.

The distribution of undernourishment is heterogeneous across the country. Interestingly, while the prevalence of stunting and underweight in children has decreased over the past 5 years, the total number of anaemic individuals has increased. These trends could be attributed to macro- and micronutrient intake with fewer than 1/3rd of all women consuming adequate amounts of both. Consumption of macronutrients in the form of carbohydrates and proteins is consistently below the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) levels prescribed by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). The household consumption of micronutrients in the form of vitamins and minerals such as iron ranges from inadequate to severely deficient. Iron deficiency is associated with the majority of anaemia prevalent in India. A mind-boggling 67% of children in 2019-21 had varying degrees of anaemia, an increase of 8% from 2015-16.

 

Advances in industrial food processing with an emphasis on “food safety”, but not nutrition, has produced an ecosystem of inexpensive processed foods. The World Health Organization (WHO) has qualified undernourishment as protein energy malnutrition, to better explain the imbalance in supply of protein and energy with the body’s demands. The consumption of disproportionately high levels of processed sugars and saturated fats has resulted in a sharp increase in obesity in children and young adults especially in urban centres. The sub-optimal levels of macro- and micronutrients in diet is ultimately associated with chronic non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes.

Notably, while the country has witnessed a systematic strengthening of policies governing food safety, nutritional security is yet to experience as much vibrancy. Considering the massive number of women and children in India who face severe macro- and micronutrient deficiencies, a case is to be made for looking beyond the simple prescription of healthy diet plans and eating habits. Innovations that allow “health foods” to be accessible for all economic segments of India are likely to address the challenges in nutrition while aligning with current global market forces. To begin with, protein and iron would be ideal core ingredients in such innovations.

 

It took a global pandemic to energize discussions surrounding nutritious food. People’s engagement in culinary activities and food entrepreneurship was visible throughout the pandemic-related disruptions. For some, this was a hobby that could be affordably pursued in one’s home. For many others, this emerged as a vital source of income and employment.

 

While food entrepreneurship during the pandemic relied heavily on innovations in logistics, an emphasis on healthy products was widely evident. The buzz around health foods during covid-19 was a reminder that ‘unhealthy foods’ are all around us, enjoying huge market share among consumers from across all geographic, demographic and economic classifications.

 

Over the past two decades, codification of food safety norms in the country and alignment with global standards such as in labelling of packaged foods have gradually improved consumer confidence. One example of enlightened food manufacturing is the fortification of packaged grains, cereals and oils with micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Further, the Indian government has announced that all rice distributed under public food security schemes will be fortified with iron and folic acid by 2024. In spite of these positive developments, two key aspects of food entrepreneurship and manufacturing need to be rejuvenated.

 

First, entrepreneurial efforts emerging from economically weaker sections need access to scientific and technological inputs to develop knowledge-driven products. Ventures that are commercializing cultural legacy food products may have a straightforward and assured revenue generation model but are unlikely to be competitive in nutritional value and market reach. For example, women microentrepreneurs in a low-income community preparing packaged farsan are unlikely to face challenges in product placement in their neighbourhoods. If the same group could develop a protein-rich and iron-containing farsan, they could also address the nutritional requirements of their primary consumers. In doing so, it is possible that their manufacturing and processing techniques need to be revised for  enhanced nutritional value of ingredients and avoid unsafe handling practices in their complete supply chain.

Large numbers of women in such socio-cultural contexts manage the food habits of their entire family. Training women microentrepreneurs in the art of assimilating scientific inputs is likely to amplify good health practices in their immediate families. Second, entrepreneurial efforts emerging from economically affluent sections need to be inclusive of customers from across all economic backgrounds. It is not uncommon to see a child of migrant labourers living significantly below poverty line eating a bag of purchased branded potato chips. If this kid can be happier, eating a similarly purchased bag of ‘health food’ with suitable amounts of protein and iron, it would signal a successful convergence of food safety and nutrition. Both of the above aspects require deep and pro-active engagement of food scientists and professionals. These could be further facilitated by academic and research institutions that identify challenges faced by the entrepreneurs as possibilities for collaborative problem-solving.

 

Food products that combine cultural culinary practices with scientific and technological inputs are likely to fulfil grassroots efforts to address prominent health challenges in the country, including the deficiency of iron and proteins among women and children. This will also generate local enterprises and a local circular economy, ensuring longterm sustainability and replicability.

 

 

Dr. Bhaskar Datta is an Associate Professor, Chemistry (jointly with Biological Engineering) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, India. His group is working on developing protein and micronutrient-rich foods, in addition to other research projects in food. He can be contacted by clicking here

Oston Technology – Smart Retrofit Toilet Kit

 Oston Technology – Smart Retrofit Toilet Kit

 

Founders:  Mr. Sayar Singh and Mr. Kumar Kalika

 

With focus to help and ease the life of 55 Lakh Divyangjan (in-mobility) and 14 Cr osteoarthritis patients in India we have developed the accessible toilet kit.  In the context of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan we are working towards making India 100% ODF. The accessible toilet to the 55 Lakh Divyangjan(in-mobility) and 14 Cr osteoarthritis patients remains India 100% ODF.

 

Problem addressed:

More than 55 lakhs physically challenged (in-movement) and 14cr osteoarthritis patient in India go through a painful experience in using a toilet. The current installed Indian style toilet in homes and public spaces are not accessible and convenient for physically challenged, and osteoarthritis patients.  The lack of accessible toilet in community and public spaces makes their live more difficult as they can’t use toilet during commute.

 

Smart Retrofit Toilet Kit

Smart retrofit toilet kit is a wall mounted commode system that transforms existing toilets into accessible friendly toilet. The retrofit kit will be mounted to the wall of the existing toilet and can be flipped to use the toilet. The toilet is designed to personalize the toilet commode providing convenient and safety as per the medical condition of the user. It has been designed very simple for use and robust for low maintenance.

 

Importance of Support by foundation like Win & MHT

 

The Foundation like WIN is very helpful for a startup mostly in the social impact-based product. They help you connect through some of the key stakeholders, guidance & financial support for conducting a full fledged product trials on the field.  The NGO like MHT help you connect to the customers and help understand their pain points.

 

Their support helps us getting insights about the pain point of the customers throughout the entire journey of the product. It also saves a lot of time  of the startups in identifying user group for trials , conducting survey and recording feedback over longer duration.  It helped us in overall improving the product design to solve the customers pain point more easily and solving some deployment issue.

 

Notable Achievements

• Awarded as “Swachh Bharat Puraskar 2019” by honourable Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi
• Winners of the Sansadhan Hackathon 2019, organized by Niti Ayog & Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Completed a successful trial with Win-Foundation in association with MHT.
• Received Seed fund (soft loan) from Department of Science & Technology.
• Installed 40 units in Jodhpur slums as part of CSR donations.

 

 

Response from users

We have received very positive response from the customers. They find it very easy to use, comfortable, secure and no maintenance .

 

A Technological Solution for Sanitation – Solinas Integrity Private Limited

 Founders: Mr. Divanshu Kumar – CEO, Innovator of HomoSEP, Bhavesh Narayani – Product Head

Hearing in the news about the deaths of sanitary workers, now and then, has become a common affair today; Most often, the death due to suffocation or intoxication inside the sewers/septic tanks while cleaning it is seen as a workplace hazard and probably thought to be acceptable as well, but is that the case?

 

What is the reason behind these deaths? Is this because there is no better technological solution available, or is it social discrimination/social hierarchy or maybe just sheer negligence from our side who don’t care enough to protect our own people? Let’s understand this deeper with an example. Ramesh needs to clean his house’s septic tank. He calls for a local sucker lorries that are the possible solutions but still, his problem was not solved as the sludge has been deposited and has become quite hard. Now, what will Ramesh do? Ask someone to clean it manually. Who will he call? And what will they do?

 

For all these questions, let’s take a look at where it all started. (i) Manual scavenging is practised mainly in India for “manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or an open drain or sewer or a septic tank or a pit”.

 

During British rule, they started installing public toilets, and they hired people to clean those toilets. Earlier, it was an act of discrimination against the so-called low caste people, it turned out to be their profession. And eventually, it turned out to be their only way of income, and it has put a social tag. This forced them to clean or manually work in the sewer or septic lines. As things evolved, our sanitation systems also upgraded from septic tanks to sewer networks or toilets to bio-toilets and smart toilets; but the cleaning method stayed the same. In fact, it has become even worse. Earlier it was cleaning or handling the poop, but now they have started to inhale the toxic gases from the hard accumulated sludge. This affects their health causing breathing issues, skin rashes and so on, also reducing their life span by almost half. This is a difficult problem at hand, a culmination of strong social discrimination and lack of readily available technologies.

 

2018 was a time when Divanshu was pursuing his final year of undergrad studies at IITM under Prof Prabhu Rajagopal. Initially the technology aspect of the problem gave them a push to look for a solution, however once he visited and saw the cleaning of septic tanks being done manually, his resolve to solve the problem became much stronger. This is when the duo at IIT Madras tried to solve this with both technological as well as social lens.

After seeing it through their own eyes, it keeps pestering their minds to solve this. As engineers, they wanted a technology that solves these problems or at least makes them stay out of this toxic environment or manual handling. The inputs from Safai Karamchari andolan helped understand the on ground issues and the feasibility of various solutions proposed. After good research, the realisation came that more than 70% of households are connected with septic tanks, and there is no existing technology to prevent human entry into them. That’s where the focus area started, zeroing in on septic tanks. To understand it better, septic tanks are closed spaces as big as the living rooms of our apartments which has about half of it filled it hard, pressurized coagulated sludge. To desludge them, humans enter septic tanks. Sanitary workers will enter the septic tanks and use hard tools to break the rock-hard sludge without any safety measures. The smell of the fecal sludge is so strong that before every cleaning, they drink alcohol to tolerate the toxic environment. It makes them addicted to this practice, and even this contributes to their ill health.

 

Their research over the last 3 years led them to invent HomoSEP (which later became a part of the start-up, Solinas, founded by both of them), a multi blade inverter umbrella system which enters the manhole fully closed and opens its arms once it enters inside the septic tank. The mechanism consists of sharp blades that homogenise all the contents like slabs, hard rocks, and accumulated sludge inside the tanks & further mixes them with the colloidal water to form a liquid solution. This is then pumped out using the suction pump and stored in the tank attached to the HomoSEP itself.

 

HomoSEP consists of four main modules, 1. Bottom Module 2. Suction module with a storage tank 3. User-Friendly Control Module 4. A feeder with an actuator that goes 3-5mts deep. Each module helps the sanitary workers to clean the septic tanks more efficiently and in a safe manner. Sanitary workers from urban or rural areas have a major problem cleaning or transporting the sludge. Hence, keeping accessibility & portability in mind, Bhavesh & his technical team at Solinas have built a model which integrates with the existing vehicle like tractors, small trucks or even two-wheelers within the HomoSEP system.

Currently, Solinas has 3 models,

 

1. HomoSEP “Ind” – for higher performances or industries.
2. HomoSEP “Compact” – For housing boards or any confined spaces.
3. HomoSEP “Mini”- Attached with a bike/on auto and specifically cleaning the standalone septic tanks in villages.

 

Further, the team has also done a business innovation and designed a distribution model to directly benefit the sanitary workers and empower them. The organisation not only distributes the robot to them, but also helps the sanitary workers to position their robot in the existing market and earn money by finding them customers.

So far, Solinas, in partnership with IIT Madras and various CSR institutions like NSE foundation, LTTS have distributed 3 robots. They are constantly working with them to create various business opportunities for cleaning or identifying local contractors to partner with them. Also, several municipalities & non-profits are interested in deploying the robot in their city and helping the sanitary workers. The team is looking for more partners who can help them reach out to sanitary workers across the country and implement the solution.

 

Every problem has a solution until we figure it out. Manual scavenging is a problem connected with people’s dignity and social identity. Through the Micro Entrepreneurship model, we can hope to have created a social identity for the sanitary workers and their families, along with improving their family income.

 

Some recipients of the system, who have started enterprise for septic tank cleaning:

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

1. Ms. Nagamma, Tambaram, Chennai
2. Ms. Ruth Mary, Ambattur, Chennai
3. Ms. Maria, AminjiKarai, Chennai.

 

References:
Manual scavenging Definition:

(i) Manual scavenging
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manual_scavenging

Mechanised cleaning of Septic Tanks: a socio-technological review

 Mechanised cleaning of Septic Tanks: a socio-technological review

Authors: Linda Jasline, Bhavesh Narayani, Divanshu Kumar & Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal, 
Solinas Integrity Private Limited and Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, IIT Madras 

 

1. Societal context and Background
   
   Dignity is an inalienable right which is part of the fundamental right to life. Justice systems all over the world have held human dignity to be the most important, fundamental, inalienable and transcendental of rights. Yet, even after more than 70 years of independent India we find a section of the society, the scavenging community, being deprived of this and being predominantly engaged in the practice of manual scavenging. The Supreme Court found in 2014 that there were over 9.6 million dry latrinesin India which required manual emptying. In other data points, there are over 75 million households, which are connected to septic tanks that may require manual scavenging, comprising 40% of the households.  Traditionally, entire cleaning of the septic tank is done by manual scavengers, as shown below in Fig.1

Indian law, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, which is the current law against manual scavenging, prohibits dry latrines and all kinds of manual cleaning of excrement as well as cleaning gutters, sewers, and septic tanks. This was an improvement from the earlier 1993 law which only gave importance to dry pit latrines. The act of 2013, apart from recognizing this dehumanizing practice arising from the inequitable caste system, also recognizes how manual scavengers are prone to serious injury and are always at a risk of death. The act envisages that sewers should be cleaned mechanically while manual scavenging will only be permitted in exceptional cases, with safety equipment by the employer. If unfollowed, this is considered a criminal offence even when it does not result in injury or death. The offender can be charged with a maximum of five years imprisonment and a fine of five lakh rupees. Additionally, an association of safai karamcharis, called Safai Karamchari Andolan, led by Bezwada Wilson (Ramon Magsaysay Awardee) has been instrumental in bringing the attention of common public to the issue and rehabilitating some of them.

Despite these efforts the practice continues unabated. Deaths arising from manual scavenging are commonplace in India, (1000+ people die every year cleaning these tanks) and there has been press attention turned to the scavengers’ dangerous conditions of work in the National Capital. A 2019 study done by the WHO (World Health Organization) showed that “weak legal protection and lack of enforcement” of the laws as well as the sanitation workers’ poor financial status (as the rehabilitation schemes remain ineffective) were the major contributors to the practice still existing. India is a federal democracy and sanitation remains under the purview of the states. Hence the implementation of the laws of manual scavenging remains under them, without any compulsion and commitment. Though some municipal bodies have begun adopting machinated sewer and septic tank cleaning in this attempt, this is occurring at a very slow pace. Lastly, this is a complex problem at the intersection of a complex caste system (shaping public perception) and lack of technological development towards solving this issue.

2. Technological Solutions from India/elsewhere addressing Manual Scavenging

Fig. 2: Photograph of giant ball for sewerage lines http://theballreport.com/the-sewers-of-paris-are-cleaned-by-giant-balls/	Fig.3: Photograph of a sewer cleaning machine https://www.mylaporetimes.com/2010/12/new-sewage-cleaning-machine-for-zone-x-a/
Fig.4: Photograph of a sewer jetting machine Image source	Fig.5: Photograph of a Mini sewer jetting machine https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/how-hyderabad-getting-rid-manual-scavenging-its-mini-sewer-jetting-machines-106023

Minimal effort was given to finding a solution for this demeaning problem for several decades and no lessons were learnt from other countries in this aspect. In France giant balls, but smaller than sewerage lines, are pushed using water at high pressure to unclog the sewers. Until now, there have been a few solutions that have been found in India. Some of the technologies that are available in the Indian market for sewer system cleaning are sewer drain jetting trucks, sewer jetting and flushing machines, gas detector masks, and sewer cleaning robots.

Apart from equipping the workers with technology, several rules must be followed to ensure safety. Safety training is critical and all employees associated with the job must undergo it. Written instructions and procedures need to be provided to the workers and continuous supervision during the job must be done. To operate the equipment, the workers present at the site need to be familiarized with how to operate. In addition to that, workshops are to be conducted at least once every two years to update them on the improved methods and techniques. Manual scavengers need training to use the dedicated technologies available in the Indian market thus enabling them to live a life of dignity.

3. The approach that may work

Taking a socio-technological approach to solve this problem could provide us a potential solution. Firstly, we need to understand the problem of cleaning fundamentally and then look at technological solutions. Moreover, we need to work on ground with people and empower them to leverage these technologies for themselves, thereby contributing to their financial wellbeing.

Cleaning hard sludge from the bottoms of septic tanks and sewer lines is vital in the sanitation industry. Septic Tank is a poisonous environment, filled with a semi-solid and semi-fluid human fecal material that makes up about two-thirds of the tank. Diving further, the fecal sludge actually starts solidifying into a clay-like substance and toward the bottom it gets rock-hard. Once filled, they are required to be cleaned every 2-5 years to stop sludge overflow and groundwater contamination. However, this results in the gradual accumulation of un-pumpable sludge at the bottom of the pit, which eventually fills the latrine and forces it to be abandoned. This is where manual scavengers come into the picture. The workers who are often assigned to clean the septic tanks die due to suffocation, exposure to toxic gases, that results in skin and breathing disorders.  This is a stigmatized occupation that operates from the underbelly of social negligence

4. Solinas, an IIT Madras incubated startup developing HomoSEP Robot to aid Sanitation workers for Cleaning Septic Tanks

A team led by Mr. Divanshu Kumar at the start-up Solinas Integrity Private Limited in collaboration with Dr. Prabhu Rajagopal at the Center of Non-Destructive Evaluation (CNDE), IIT Madras has been developing the ‘HomoSEP’ robot for automated homogenization & cleaning of Septic Tank contents. In the last year, the team has successfully completed trials of the next version of HomoSEP robot (v2.0) which is more rugged and miniaturized for portability under laboratory, mock-up and field conditions. A start-up “Solinas Integrity Private Limited” led by Mr. Divanshu Kumar and Dr. Prabhu Rajagopal in collaboration with Center of Non-Destructive Evaluation (CNDE), IIT Madras has been developing the ‘HomoSEP’ robot for automated homogenization & cleaning of Septic Tank conHomoSEP robot developed by Solinas Integrity Private Limited in collaboration with Center of Non-Destructive Evaluation (CNDE), IIT Madras

This HomoSEP robot will aid manual scavengers in cleaning the hard sludge without entering the potentially dangerous atmosphere of a septic tank. HomoSEP is a compact robot made up of five main modules. The bottom module can homogenise hard sludge with water to create a pumpable slurry, and the feeding machine module can push and pull the bottom module inside a septic tank manhole at a depth of 3-5 metres. The portable module is mounted on a mobile frame to hold the whole robot at actual septic tank sites. The electronic module is configured so that the entire robot can be operated by the manual scavengers with a single remote. The suction module is intended to suck the homogenised slurry from the Septic tanks.

Solinas solution, the HomoSEP robot will be available from December 2021 for cleaning septic tanks. This robot will be operated by  a worker using a portable remote control panel and screen.

HomoSEP robot developed by Solinas Integrity Private Limited in collaboration with Center of Non-Destructive Evaluation (CNDE), IIT Madras

 

About Authors :
1. Mr. Divanshu Kumar, Heading Involve Education & Solinas Integrity,  IIT Madras | PM Awardee, 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/divinvolve/?originalSubdomain=in
2. Mr. Bhavesh Narayani, Head of Product Development at Solinas Integrity, IIT Madras
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavesh-narayani-32a1a8144/?originalSubdomain=in
3. Ms.Linda Jasline, Project Manager at Solinas Integrity Pvt. Ltd, IIT Madras https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindajasline/
4. Prof.Prabhu Rajagopal, Faculty in charge, Centre for Innovation at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
https://www.linkedin.com/in/prabhu-rajagopal-041ab74/?originalSubdomain=in

Rainwater Harvesting and Groundwater Management in Urban Areas

 Authors: Nikita Harikishan, researcher and project lead at Biome Environmental Trust and Shubha Ramachandran team lead of Water Team at Biome Environmental Trust

 

Rainwater harvesting – Science in action

Rainwater harvesting has been in existence for thousands of years. It is a very intuitive and actionable idea. Still, there is complex science behind rainwater harvesting and groundwater management, including rainfall patterns, climate variability, hydrogeology and the impact of human activities on hydrogeology. However, at the same time, we can look at this knowledge with a lens that can be applied at a small and decentralized scale for practical application. It is with this thought that this article has been written.

Introduction

The water supply situation today is very different from 100, 50, or even 25 years ago. India faces challenges of water stress, constituting 16% of the world population but only 4% of the freshwater resources.

With rapid urbanization, cities/towns rely heavily on the cost-intensive long-distance water supplies to meet the widening water demand-supply gap including overexploitation of in-situ groundwater resources while dealing with declining infrastructures. Furthermore, urbanization disrupts the natural hydrological cycle as there is a reduction in infiltration and groundwater recharge due to the existence of large impervious areas, removal of shallow aquifer to build multiple basements, thus urban areas face the twin problems of floods during monsoon and shortage of freshwater during non-monsoon months.

India has had a rich tradition of community-based water harvesting. Each region has a different structure for harvesting rain, from Eris in the southern plains of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamilnadu to Jhalaras, kunds and step wells in Thar regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan, Kuls in western Himalaya, Ahar Pynes and Baolis of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, Zabo, and Virdas in Northeast regions.  This long history of water structures has long been forgotten and has been dumped with garbage or closed off. However, there is a need to reimagine rainwater harvesting, groundwater, open wells, and their relevance in contemporary times.

The solution, therefore, lies in decentralized rainwater harvesting, which is increasingly being turned to as it offers an alternative, affordable, reliable, and sustainable water source in the face of increasing water shortages. Rainwater harvesting can be done using two methods: storing water for direct use or recharging groundwater.

Know your rainfall

Rainfall statistics for the areas is of paramount importance to understanding rainwater harvesting norms. Information on average annual rainfall quantity, distribution across months and rainfall intensity is crucial. Rainfall quantity will decide the potential for rainwater harvesting from any surface i.e., a product of total rainfall and the surface area of collection

Weather Monitoring Stations & Telemetric Rain Gauges

With the concept of “Measure to Manage”, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) has installed 930 weather monitoring stations at Hobli level which captures the 4 major parameters – Temperature, Relative Humidity, Wind Direction, and Wind Speed, and 6500 telemetric rain gauges for monitoring rainfall data. The weather forecasts are made by ISRO and with the Ground level data provided by KSNDMC to ISRO every day, it is possible to get more accurate and reliable predictions.

The near-real-time data collection, report generation, and dissemination have been helping the State Government in planning and executing disaster management and mitigation plans at the micro-level.

Know your geology

Geology plays an important role in the occurrence of water within a watershed. Water availability is governed by the rock types occurring both at the surface and within the subsurface and the extent of weathering and fracturing of the rocks. India has highly diversified hydrogeologic characteristics. There are six extensively documented groundwater typologies across India i.e. mountain systems, alluvial (unconsolidated) systems, sedimentary (soft) systems, sedimentary (hard) systems, volcanic systems, and crystalline (basement) systems (CGWB ). Based on local geology, one can understand the best recharge strategy and the most appropriate recharge tool/structure for the context.

Storing rooftop rainwater for domestic use 
When rainwater is a supplemental or primary source of water for domestic use, then designing for storage is essential. Rainwater harvesting systems will have the following 5 basic components: Catchment area including building roofs and paved areas, Gutters, Downtake pipes, Filters, First flush devices, Storage tanks/ponds and Delivery systems till the point of end-use.

Calculating storage size depends on rainfall pattern, rainfall intensity, catchment area, the total volume of daily usage, budget, and space availability. Ideally, in areas where there is severe water scarcity, there may be a need to harvest and store all the rainwater, but this may be inefficient and therefore can be decided based on the consumption needs. For instance, if 1000mm of rain is falling on a 100sqm catchment, for which you would need 10 lakh litre storage, but this is inefficient. Therefore, an optimal size of a storage tank can be arrived at based on the calculation of daily water consumption, which can be correlated with the total harvestable rainfall. If rainwater is immediately used after collection, more water can be harvested annually for a relatively smaller storage size. 

The stored water should have a point-of-use treatment before end-use. For example, appropriate measures should be taken to ensure it meets the drinking water quality standards if it is to be used for drinking purposes. 

Integrating rainwater into groundwater management 
Groundwater is far more significant in the water-supply of cities and towns but is widely not appreciated, as it is an ‘invisible resource’ connecting various urban infrastructures. Unaccounted groundwater in urban areas exceeds 50% in 28 Indian cities (CGWB, 2011). While some legislation exists that directly or indirectly seeks to help manage groundwater, the enforcement has been weak and a very big barrier. Given the nature of groundwater development and use, for it to reach a scale that can have an impact for the city as a whole, all users and stakeholders need to become part of the solution and make groundwater a community resource. 

Outlined below are a series of things to know about the same:

Groundwater recharge

The percolation of excess rainwater through an infiltration system to the subsurface is called ‘Artificial Groundwater Recharge’. The runoff water collected from rooftops and surface water can artificially recharge and augment the depleting groundwater resources, especially in the urban areas, where the natural recharge has diminished considerably. As a thumb rule, it is important to understand the water resources within the city and at what depths these are found, which can then be taken as a baseline to understand the best recharge strategies.

There are different types of recharge structures – a) Recharge pits; b) Recharge trenches; c) Recharge through dry or operational dug wells; d) Recharge through abandoned/existing tube wells; and e) Recharge wells, etc.


Recharge rate tests
A recharge rate test is conducted to assess the recharge rate of an aquifer i.e. to see how quickly water percolates into the ground. In this test, a known quantity of water is pumped into the well/s being tested, and the time taken for it to percolate into the ground is recorded. Measurements are taken of the depth of the water every minute for the first 10 minutes, then after 15 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, and so on. From these measurements, the recharge rate of the well/s can be calculated, which helps us understand the recharge rate of the shallow aquifer in that particular area. The more wells that are tested in an area, the better our understanding of that aquifer.

Million recharge wells for Bengaluru Biome is campaigning “A million recharge wells”: Reviving our responsibility for groundwater. The initiative aims at striking a balance between groundwater extracted and recharged, by digging 10 lakh (1 million) recharge wells across Bengaluru City. The explicit objective of the intervention is to increase the groundwater table in the city while providing livelihoods to the local community of traditional well-diggers (called Mannu Vaddars) in Karnataka. The implicit objective is to build a water culture in the city, where people value water availability, water structures, and also take responsibility for managing groundwater collectively. A recharge well is basically a hole in the ground into which the rainwater runoff can be directed, such that it percolates into the ground, augmenting the water table. The recharge well can be a powerful tool and symbol for reviving our relationship with groundwater as it reconnects us to our open well heritage; it reminds us that unless we fill our aquifers up, we will not be able to extract; and that we cannot extract limitlessly. It also teaches us that groundwater is not anyone’s private property, but a common pool resource.

 

Mapping the aquifers underneath our city through participatory approaches

A city or town should be aligned to all sources of knowledge – often this information does not only come from formal institutions such as hydrogeologists, civil engineering departments, water managing authorities, etc but also from the residents, traditional well-diggers, borewell diggers, etc, who also have an understanding of the local aquifer and geology. Therefore, evolving a participatory approach towards groundwater mapping, with participation from institutions, schools, etc who can help with mapping is useful.

As a result of this, the recharge of aquifers is managed bottom-up, with each citizen also taking responsibility for managing groundwater, either by documenting it or by digging a recharge well. People also begin to understand that they might not directly benefit from recharge wells, but if everyone recharges, the entire community benefits. 

Outreach and communication 
To promote RWH in the city, creating awareness regarding the importance of rainwater harvesting, both for immediate uses and also for sustaining the water table in the long run, is essential. There is a need to shift the initiative from institutional endeavors and make it into a mass movement. There has to be an investment in communicating the city’s problems, the existence of laws and legislations and how the law attempts to address this problem, and therefore the role of citizens to implement the law and be part of the solution.

As awareness of the issue increases, more people begin to understand the ecological flows that surround us, and what they can do to protect these systems. It also inculcates a feeling of giving back and emphasizes the importance of doing so.

[1] http://www.ide-india.org/content/water-india-facts
12] http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/rural/Traditional3.htm#apat
[3] http://cgwb.gov.in/documents/papers/incidpapers/Paper%201-B.M.Jha.pdf

www.urbanwaters.in Community platforms that demonstrate RWH are useful for understanding the overall scenario. www.Urbanwaters.in web space seeks to inform, guide and provide any and all resources to all of us to make us water literate, solve our individual or community water problems and act responsibly by taking care of our common urban water resources. It seeks to help make us a part of the solution rather than being a part of the problem.

Experiences of Samerth Trust – a grassroot organisation in promoting Micro Entrepreneurs

Author: Ms. Gazala Paul, Managing Trustee, Samerth Charitable Trust

 

Imagination is the beginning of creation

Background
It is estimated that well over 260 million people, out of India’s population of over 1 billion, are living below the national poverty line. It is also projected that out of these poor households, approximately 20 per cent have access to credit through formal channels and even fewer have undertaken formal or informal financial or business training.

Women comprise half of India’s human resources and are key agents of sustainable development. The contribution of women and their role in the family as well as in the economic development and social transformation of the country is pivotal. Women are also representing an ever-increasing percentage of the total marginal or informal workers in the country. There are multiple ways in which the socialized skills of women can be turned into entrepreneurial initiatives.

It is especially true in rural and semi-urban areas with scarce industries or industries which inherently are hostile towards women due to the nature of work – like mining, where micro-enterprise rooted in the needs of the local area present as one of the most viable options to become financially independent.

Samerth Trust – an introduction

Samerth Trust initiated its operations in the drought-prone region of Rapar, Kutch (Gujarat) in early 2000 based on the poor human development index of the area. Our interventions began by providing potable water through participatory groundwater management and later as villages became self-sufficient in water, livelihood became their biggest focus in order to avoid distress migration. With no industries in the area, the only livelihood options are rooted in the local economy including agriculture and Animal Husbandry.  In Rapar with a population of over 2 lakh people, even today one cannot find ATMs or banks for 100 km at a stretch. Samerth started supporting men and women from marginalized communities on their entrepreneurial aspirations and today has a broad base of more than 300 individuals who have been able to successfully start and sustain local businesses.

Samerth later expanded to Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and then Chhattisgarh working with communities who are marginalized and come from low-income backgrounds. In Chhattisgarh, the focus has been tribal communities and in the urban and semi-urban areas of the Ahmedabad district, it was migrant and vulnerable groups. We started working in Ahmedabad & Chhattisgarh on education and livelihood issues. Currently, we reach out to more than 70,000 families directly through various interventions. In both these areas, we have supported communities’ initiate enterprises – especially women through special training and support and today we reach out to more than 1000 entrepreneurs in both these regions.

In all three regions, in Rapar due to sheer distance and lack of administrative support, in Chhattisgarh as the focus are the PVTGs – Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups living in hilly forest regions with poor accessibility, and in Ahmedabad marginalised communities of western Ahmedabad as well as women in Sanand face a great barrier in accessing formal sources of loan like banks, and still fall prey to private players who provide loan at exorbitant rates. Samerth works with more than 48 micro-entrepreneurs in Ahmedabad, in an urban and rural areas, supporting small shops or helping establish their street businesses on carts, women entrepreneurs to set up food businesses etc.  In areas like Kutch and Chhattisgarh, Samerth has been battling against some of the most challenging living conditions- extreme climate, deforestation, and soil depletion that often gets exacerbated by unpredictable natural calamities.  In Kutch, in the desert area surrounded by big and small rann where frequent droughts, water scarcity and salinity in the groundwater overpowers everything the support for setting up small enterprises creates significant impacts and becomes key to alleviating poverty. Samerth has worked with 283 families for dairy/animal husbandry, setting up small businesses, auto services, higher education, and agriculture activities in the Rapar block of Kutch. We also provide technical and training assistance for setting up vermicomposting, biogas installation of solar pumps, livestock promotion and dairy business.

 

In Kwardha district of CG – Samerth has promoted 665 enterprises on pisciculture, poultry farming, NTFP collection and marketing as well as farm-based livelihoods by linking them with available forest and government schemes on technical training, accessing loans etc.

 

Thus, more than 1000 micro-entrepreneurs are handheld and supported on a regular basis with financial support, business strategy as well as market linkage. Samerth overall vision is to help people get out of poverty and to pursue this goal we have been encouraging social business. The idea is to create products or services that provide social benefits.

In Samerth’s experience, rural and semi-urban micro-entrepreneurs do not readily receive the training and support systems that facilitate the upgrading of skills as well as the general understanding of organising and managing successful businesses. The transition from homemaker to sophisticated entrepreneur is no small challenge, however, women across India are increasingly showing an interest in economic independence.

 

Samerth’s support the microentrepreneurs stresses encompassing the skills in a way that extends beyond financial support to those of creating market linkages.

Each cluster of activities provided a learning experience that has helped to shape the concept of social business/micro-enterprises.
 
Our learnings of the last decade of promoting micro-entrepreneurs

1. Only providing microfinance support is not enough. Samerth’s experience of working in some of the poorest areas has highlighted that in many instances, providing finance to low-income communities does not effectively reduce poverty levels. More comprehensive services are required to enable them to benefit from financial inclusion. Constant hand-holding in the initial years and support in market linkages is the key for any micro-enterprise to not only survive but thrive. The enterprise must be prepared to compete with the market. It must provide high-quality goods and services, and provide excellent value for the prices it charges.
2. Building a multi-partnership model benefits all. Partnering with multi-sector organizations to offer training and business counselling on enterprise feasibility, Samerth worked towards strengthening collectives and creating market linkages and financial linkages via banks.
3. Capacitating the entrepreneur is the key. Wherever possible, formal capacity-building micro-enterprise development training is undertaken. These training are delivered in local, vernacular languages and through contextually relevant methods, with content derived from the region. This training is crucial as the world is changing faster, particularly in the realms of economic development and technology.
4. 4. Women-led enterprises lead to many other changes in society. Finally, micro-enterprises headed by women are important indicators in demonstrating overall and holistic economic development, which also incorporates social elements such as the promotion of gender grievance and redressal forums, and an awareness of health and physical wellbeing as an essential aspect of both maintaining productive livelihood activities and reducing the financial burden on individuals and families alike.
5. Role of Banks for Financial Inclusion: We must not overlook the fact, however, that strong support for credit through formal banks is crucial.  The vibrant micro-enterprise will further blossom with the pro-active involvement of nationalised and private sector Banks and credit institutions.  It is only with the strengthening of these institutions, that the promotion of micro-entrepreneurs can happen and spur economic growth.

Highlighting here is a case study of our women entrepreneurs from Sanand in Gujarat. This programme is supported by WIN Foundation.

Inspiring Micro Enterprise Innovation: Asha Poshak Nashto (Asha Nutritive Snacks)

 

Samerth has been working in five villages of Sanand since 2019. Sanand was a small sleepy town in the Ahmedabad district, that shot to prominence after the Tata Nano factory relocated from West Bengal to Sanand. After Nano, many other ancillary companies came to Sanand and from an agricultural zone, it became an industrial zone. Overnight the land prices shot up and big farmers became rich. The poor farmers with small land holdings became factory workers. Though there were industries, the social dynamics did not change, women were still expected to cover their faces, were not allowed to carry smartphones, girls were not allowed to study and most menial jobs were delegated to women.

Samerth had been working in the government schools of the area on enhancing the quality of education and nutrition had been one of the focus areas. Our team was also working with women to form Self Help Groups, save regularly, come together on a platform etc. It was in this situation that the pandemic struck and many factory workers lost their jobs. With no income and poor skills, it became difficult for families to sustain themselves. It is in these circumstances that the WIN Foundation training on nutri entrepreneurs was initiated with our self-help groups. The model was simple – women to be trained in microenterprise development, from product development to costing to packaging to the market linkage, handheld through the process. The women were also trained in nutrition, understanding the needs of their bodies, especially during times of change (adolescent – onset of the menstrual cycle) Pregnancy, and menopause combined with the nutritive content of our day-to-day food and how to match the needs to the content. This gave them an overall perspective on the foods -especially traditional ones that they have been traditionally consuming across generations. The training also helped them gain insight into the nutritional needs of a growing child and based on this understanding their product for enterprise took shape.

The idea was to make traditional sweet and savoury products with nutritive content which children and adults can eat instead of ready-to-eat packaged food with zero nutritional value in addition to the harm it causes to the environment with the packaging.  It was a win–win for both, women getting an entrepreneurial product, which primarily caters to their own communities. Due to its proximity to the city and industrial belt, there were many other avenues for the products too.  The micro-enterprise development training conducted by Mr Nikesh Ingle was a robust program of theoretical concepts that were delivered with practical exercises. It required every trainee to visit a local marketplace during the training. This provided an important initial exposure to the environments in which they will be conducting business and a valuable insight into aspects of operation such as local competition, typical footfalls, demand and market opportunities, customer buying capacities etc. Such experience also contributes to building a greater preparedness for executing effective enterprise plans. Furthermore, constant handholding gave them further encouragement to continue with their venture. This also includes bringing the technical aspect in current times – a WhatsApp business training that was held online for about 16 hours throughout the month. This training helped entrepreneurs gain confidence that their products and services can reach a larger audience without spending on marketing.

The product was of high-quality nutritious food and also served low-income groups, especially children. We are providing food to daycare centres with intellectually challenged children and young adults.  The products were competitive price-wise as they didn’t require costly packaging or advertisement.

It has been early days since the women started actively producing and selling their products and they have great responses within and outside the community. There is certainly hope that with the right support, these women will only march stronger ahead. 

I certainly believe that there is huge scope to support the vulnerable and marginalised with business development training along with micro-credit to encourage them to become micro-entrepreneurs in their own right.  We need to think strategically and analyse the potential role of communities for growth.  The whole idea is to put our minds to it and create what we want by providing a fair chance to unleased the community’s energy and creativity.   I believe that combined with technology, creating local solutions with global markets is the future.

Moreover, establishing financial institutions for rural areas is the beginning. Banking penetration, access to banking services, and use of banking services significantly influence financial Stability for women entrepreneurs living in difficult areas.