Part I - A Short Summary of Activities
and Achievements of TVWP
Project Location: Pune and
Thane District - Maharashtra, India - see area map
Project Co-ordinator
Dr. Costantino Faillace, a former UN Project
Manager and International Consulting Hydrogeologist,
assisted by his wife Katharina, is the organizer, the
manager and the sponsor of the program. According
to Moshe Finkel, a well known international consultant,
Dr. Faillace is a “one man NGO”, see bio-data
of Dr. Faillace
Description
The program started in 1989 in Pune District
with the collaboration of Dr. Shrikant Limaye, presently
the
President of the Association of Geoscientists for
International Development (AGID). The highest priority
is given to remote and neglected tribal villages (Adivasi
villages) heavily affected by water borne
diseases, in fact, 80% of the diseases affecting these
villages are related directly or
indirectly to lack of water or contaminated water. The
size of the villages included in the program ranges
between 50 to 450 people. Larger villages are not
included because most of them have already hand-dug
wells or drilled wells, some of which are sources of the
existing water supply systems; furthermore, for
larger villages, the simple technology adopted would not
be appropriate.
The selected villages have highly polluted water sources
consisting of pits and rudimentary, unprotected
holes dug in small streams and depressions where run-off
water conveys animal dung and other pollutants
during the rainy season. Children, in particular, are
affected by intestinal problems, most of them have big
bellies indicating their intestinal disorder, see photo.
The program is dedicated mainly to women and
children of tribal people, the “Adivasi”. Women
and
children generally bear the hardship to collect and
transport water, often from long distances. The Adivasi
are considered to be the poorest of the poor of rural
India. Many villages included in the program are
land-less; villagers general work as a labor force for
land owners or in brick factories. An outline of the
Adivasi culture, traditions and attitude is reported in
article entitled “The
Adivasi”
The TVWP program is described in more detail
in the article , “People’s
Participation” and in a gallery
of photographs.
People, in fact, participate actively by collecting local
material and offering their labor during the
construction of the platform. The government
organizations (Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti) also
collaborate with the program, specially in the first
phase dealing with the identification of the villages and
the water surveys.
Dr. Faillace concerned about the maintenance
problems in remote areas, not accessible during the wet
season, designed a simple water lifting device which is
also most appropriate for low-yielding boreholes. It
consists of four components: the pump stand, the windlass
with handles, a 5 liter cylinder with a foot
valve, and a wire-rope; the platform completes the
installation. The length of the wire rope ranges
between 30 and 60 ft in accordance with the water level
depth and well yield. The bucket pump may
deliver, under sustained withdrawals, between 150 and 800
liters per hour, according to the depth of
water level, water entry and well yield. Altogether 52
bucket pumps have been installed by the TVWP in the past
five years in Thane district. The bucket pump is
described in detail in the article, “Simple Low-cost
Pump”
The importance of the TVWP program for the
Adivasi people and for Dr. Faillace, as its responsible,
is described in the paper “The
Joy of Giving”. The note
briefly describes the reasons that motivate Dr. Faillace
in organising and implementing the TVWP for the Adivasi.
His efforts are meant to contribute to building up a
better society while offering his selfless service to the
poor, the neglected, the suffering. The tribals, in fact,
often are afflicted by many social problems due to
overexploitation, unemployment , malnutrition,
illiteracy, segregation and inequality. The paper
describes the profound, inner joy that author receives as
result of his efforts in dedicating part of his life to
the noble cause of helping the poor.
Contributions to Communicate
the Simple Low-cost Water Technology
Dr. Faillace has written a number of papers on
simple low-cost water technology during his long career
in
Africa, central and South America and Asia while working
for international organisations. He strongly
believes that simple, low cost technology, appropriate to
local conditions, is the only possible solution for
the sustainability of programs and projects to be
implemented in rural areas of most developing countries.
In India, in particular, during the past ten years, Dr.
Faillace has actively contributes in congresses and
meetings with papers focusing mainly on low-cost water
technology appropriate to rural villages. The Indian
Water Works Association awarded him best paper awards in
1996 and 1997. Among the most recent papers on this
subject found in the web site includes the four articles
briefly outlined below:
Tanker Villages and
Hilltop villages
This paper is an attempt to
contribute with some ideas to solve the problems related
to water scarcity
villages, often located in hilly areas. Special reference
is made to the northern "talukas" of Thana
District,
well known to the author, who, since many years, is
involved in the drilling of boreholes for Adivasi
villages. Most of the water sources of such villages dry
up progressively from February onwards and
people are compelled to walk long distances to collect
water from a permanent water source. Isolated
villages with problems of severe water scarcity in
April-May receive drinking water from water tankers
hired by the Government, they are called “Tanker
Villages”.Most of the tanker villages are not well
connected by all-weather motorable roads and often are
isolated
during the wet season.
Appropriate Water
Technology for Small Villages
The paper briefly describes
the critical water supply situation of small rural
villages in Maharashtra State
and suggests criteria and technical solutions to improve
the water quality of hand-dug wells, often heavily
contaminated due to inappropriate well design. The paper
also stresses the importance of health education
and village sanitation which should be an integrated part
of any rural village water program.
Holistic Approach to
Appropriate Technology
The paper clarifies the
meaning of appropriate technology and defines the
importance and role of NGOs
in mobilising people to participate in program and
projects meant to promote their own socio-
economic development. The author analyses the problems
preventing development and suggests
development alternatives. Special importance is given to
the creation of appropriate technology networks
and to envision the appropriate technology for the new
millennium. The new roles of the NGOs is also discussed.
Water Networking and
Globalization
This short paper focus on
the importance to disseminate information on water and
land issues. Special
reference is made to the importance of the Global Water
Partnership (GWP), a newly created water
network which is growing very fast and working for
adopting new ideas and programs , in a global world
vision for the development and proper use of the water
resources in the new millennium.
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