An attempt is being made to work with tribal villages in Jharkhand to plan for and create water security. This is how it has panned out so far.

1. Water situation:
The people of the Santhal Paraganas remain
without adequate access to water today. About
38% of the villages in Jharkhand do not have access . This figure is much higher in the hilly areas as
centralised schemes do not find it economically
feasible to factor in water supply to small far-flung
hamlets.

2. The programme:
There is a strong need for the development of
small, village owned and managed water
supply systems. The Government of Jharkhand
recently entered into an agreement with three
non-govermental organisations from around the
country to create such decentralised plans
The process has been started in six gram
panchayats of two blocks, Udhua and Mandhro,
in Sahibganj district.

3. First steps:
● getting to know the area and the villages through visits and
● recruiting a team of young and enthusiastic young people
Why do this?
● To break through the language barrier,
● To facilitate trust in the project team
Result:
● The team is no longer 'the other', but one of the community.

4. Next step: Household surveys
Cons:
● Person- and time- intensive, tedious to conduct,
● there is no 'triangulation' where received responses can
be checked
Then why do this?
● To enable a new team to gain access to peoples' homes
and lives
Result:
● Face-to-face meeting with every household
● Data on demographics, water supply, health

5. Next step: The planning meetings
● Introductions, both of the team and the project
● Discuss the present water situation, problems faced, and
possible solutions
Why do this?
● Understand the present status of water
● Villages and team together come up with possible solutions
Result:
● A set of options for ensuring water security- as defined by
the village- is obtained.

6. Next step: The planning meetings
● Introductions, both of the team and the project
● Discuss the present water situation, problems faced, and
possible solutions
Why do this?
● Understand the present status of water
● Villages and team together come up with possible solutions
Result:
● A set of options for ensuring water security- as defined by
the village- is obtained.