Revisiting DSKs WATSAN Project : Experiment, Experience and Challenges

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Revisiting DSKs WATSAN Project Experiment,
Experience and Challenges

• Dr. Dibalok Singha
• Executive Director, DSK, Bangladesh
• National Coordinator, WSS Collaborative Council
• February 10-11, 2005
• Chennai, India

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Discussion Points

• Urbanization
• Proliferation of slums and squatters
• Access to basic services DENIAL AND DEPRIVATION
• DSKs experiment
• DSK WATSAN Products
• Experiences
• Challenges

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Urbanization

• Dhaka a mega city

• Bangladesh a country projected to have more than
  sixty percent of its population in urban areas by
  2030
• Factors contributing to Urbanization
• Rural to Urban Migration,
• Urban population Growth
• Geographic Increase of Territories

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The setting
Dhaka City Map

• About Three million people are living in slums of
  Dhaka.
• Communities willing to pay for water and
  Sanitation.
• Often slum dwellers do not have legal water
  sanitation services in slums.

View of a slum

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The setting

• DWASA did not had the mandate to serve the slum
  population.
• Sustainability and cost recovery is a big problem
  for DWASA.
• Slum dwellers are paying 50 times higher for
  drinking water comparing to DWASA fixed rate.

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Sanitation Challenges

• View of Hanging Latrines

• Low Sanitation Coverage Open Defecation
• In urban slums estimated coverage is around 14
• Hanging latrines poses a special threat.
• In connection with open defecation more than
  20,000 MTs of excreta is released daily.

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Sanitation Challenges

•    125,000 Children die every year in Bangladesh
  because of diarrhoeal diseases.
• Estimated Tk 500 crore (gtUS 80 Million)
  per year is spent on drugs, doctors fee and
  travel expenses.

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Sanitation Challenges

• Fresh Water is loaded with high concentration of
  Pathogens
•       Protection from pathogens is a prerequisite
  to sustaining Bangladesh fresh water resources
  and improving QoL.

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Grassroots Participation

• Top down versus bottom up
• Bangladesh a country of marginalized but they are
  voiceless and powerless.
• No socio-political space for the disadvantaged
• To change behavioral patterns among marginalized
  is also crucially important

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DSKs Approach on Water and Sanitation Program

• DSKs engages in implementation of its WATSAN
  program via
• building community based organization
• Visible participation of women
• Participatory planning
• mobilization internal and external resources
• Sustainability

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DSK WATSAN Products

• Water Point
• Hand pump
• Pit Latrines
• Community Sanitation Block

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DSK WATSAN Products

• Vaccutug
• Mobile Water Van
• Bio Gas Plant
• Integrated Approach
• COMMUNITY-BASED SAFE WATER SYSTEM

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DSK Approach to community

• Base line survey
• Reflecting geographical location
• Area and population
• Socio economic status of the population

• Tough Realities waits for people living in Slums

Community Consultation
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Approach to community

• Community Involved in PRA

• Possibilities of eviction
• Technical feasibilities
• Family wise monthly expenditure for water and
  Sanitation

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Approach to community

• Community Involved in PRA

• Activities of other NGOs etc. Initially DSK
  starts the activity with a projection meeting
  (inception meeting)

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Community Based Mapping of Sanitation Services
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Key components of WATER POINT MODEL

• Provision of WATSAN services via water points
• Women participation and Leadership
• CBOs are the agents for Success
• Behavioral change communication
• Social and Financial Sustainability of the
  project

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Design modifications

• Reservoir made of Ferro cement
• Suction pumps directly connected to DWASA supply
  end
• Brick soling with Cement Concrete (CC) casting
• Small size of reservoir (500-600 liters) etc

Final Touch to WP
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Integration of software and hardware activity

• Establish baseline and need assessment through
  participatory approaches
• Projection meeting to revisit the findings of the
  baseline report

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Integration of software and hardware activity

• Formation of Community Based Organization (CBOs)
  / Community Management Groups (CMGs)
• Hygiene Promotion,Community Management and
  operation maintenance (Book keeping) training
  (module) for the CBOs /CMGs and community
  members.

Hygiene Promotion Session
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Financing

• DSK provides Loan amounting Tk 25,000-50,000
• Repayment within 30 MO period including six
  months grace period
• A written contract between DSK and the community
• Recent Modifications
• Ten percent advance collection
• Introduced ten percent interest on loan disbursed

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Operational Modality

• Monthly meeting of water point management
  committee
• DSK facilitates community participation, designs,
  selects sites for street hydrant , water access
  and cost sharing
• DSK also mediates with utility agencies

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Water point (WP) hand over Criterias

• Presence of women WP Management Committee (MC)
• Presence of male WP advisory committee
• Regular monthly meeting
• Special meetings as and when necessary
• Women attendance and leadership
• Regular payment of capital loan installments
• Hundred percent recovery of the capital cost

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Water point (WP) hand over Criterias

• Regular payment of DWASA bills
• Regular payment of caretaker salary
• Maintenance of cash box at the water point
• Capacity in maintaining transparent tally book
• Capacity to collect the fees from the users and
  deposit the same to WPs account daily maintained
  by DSK Ownership feeling
• Cleanliness at the water point

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Sustainability

• A water point in function

• Water point operation is seen as small water
  business
• operated and maintained by the community.

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DSK Experience in alleviating Sanitation Problems

• Vacutug

• Cleaning of Latrine pits and Septic Tanks is a
  big problem in Dhaka.
• Manual Cleaning has been practiced.
• DSK with support from WA has introduced Vacutug
  Service.

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DSK Experience in Alleviating Sanitation Problems
Community Sanitation Block

• Community Sanitation Block is a combination of
  latrine and shower facilities.
• There are separate chambers for Men, Women and
  Children
• SBs are managed by the communities on pay and use
  basis.

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DSK Experience in Alleviating Sanitation Problems
Community Sanitation Block

• Cost of such SBs are around Tk 250,000.
• As per agreement with communities, this has been
  treated as small business.
• DSK took permission from DCC and DWASA for
  seating space and service provision of SB.

• Inner view of SB

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SLUM DWELLERS living in HIGH WATER SCARCITY AREAS
ARE COLLECTING WATER FROM A MOBILE WATER VAN
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Policy and other Implications

• Improved access to basic services
• Community based service provision
• Visibility of RF
• Regular payment of Water Bills
• Women Leadership
• Legal and Institutional change

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Policy and other Implications

• Replication. Scaling up
• Visibility of CBOs. Work through CBOs
• Increased access to WATSAN services
• Change of Environment at DWASA
• Policy Advocacy

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Challenges Ahead

• Re Visible and powerful participation of
  marginalized in accessing basic services
• Top down versus Bottom up
• Evictions
• GoB policy towards slums Re Policy
  Dialogue on Slums
• How to convert or motivate 25 non standard
  latrines into standard ones.
• Research should be supported to develop
  appropriate technologies, considering flood and
  other Natural Calamities and hanging latrines
  over water bodies that are regular phenomenon in
  Bangladesh.

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Challenges Ahead

• Extensive use of mobile water van in order to
  further increase access of urban poor to water
  supply.
• To introduce and extend Vaccutug service in large
  metropolitan areas.
• BCC and right chemistry of subsidy to Urban poor.

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Challenges Ahead

• Twenty percent of the population are hardcore
  poor
• What would be the best possible way of reaching
  hard core poor?

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Thank you

• For information's
• singha_at_dskbangladesh.org or visit
• www.dskbangladesh.org