After 40 long years, Valmiki Colony is working together to improve water supply for its community

“CFAR made us realise that it is within our capacity to secure safe water for our families,” says Manju. Valmiki Colony is 40 years old, and in all that time, they have faced water deprivation and struggled to access safe water. With the help of CFAR, through their Water for Women project, community members have mobilised through CFAR’s Single Window Forum and all 287 households in the community can now access safe, piped water. “We are very happy today,” continues Manju. “This has been possible because of the unity and confidence we have developed and the support we have received from the government.” (Centre for Advocacy and Research)

Valmiki Colony is 40 years old, and in all that time, they have faced water deprivation and struggled to access safe water.

Valmiki is in ward no 51 in Moti Dungri Zone in Jaipur, Rajasthan and has a population of 1800. Most residents are financially challenged, so when it came to accessing water, they would rely on ground water and could not afford a water connection or purchase safe water for drinking.

For the most poor and marginalised households, towards the rear of the settlement, their only access to water came from daily trips from one end of the settlement to the other to collect it. The bore well in the settlement also had a high concentration of nitrate and fluoride making it unsafe to use.

Despite these challenges, the community is full of hard workers with many of the men working as sanitation workers in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, private complexes and malls, and women involved in road sweeping, or engaged in domestic work. Through engagement with our partner CFAR, through their Water for Women project, the community has played a large role in changing things for the better in Valmiki Colony.

“CFAR made us realise that it is within our capacity to secure safe water for our families,” says Manju, a member of the Single Window Forum in Valmiki.

Manju and other community members mobilised through CFAR’s Single Window Forum and worked with the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) to secure three water tankers to provide interim relief to the community.

However, knowing this could not be a long term solution, the community persisted in their demand for the laying of the Bisalpur water pipeline (which comes from the Bisalpur Dam and is tested as safe water for drinking purposes.) The pipe has even been upgraded to new metallic pipes to fix issues with blockages and leaks.

This united effort has paid off! Now, all 287 households in the Valmiki Colony can access safe, piped water. Satish Jain, Zonal Engineer, PHED South Zone commented during the works on the support from community members, "We have been supported by five Single Window Forum Members, Manju, Madhu, Pappi, Bina and Sunny, and Community Management Committee members in this settlement who have helped the workers and engineers to plan this work."

“We are very happy today,” says Manju. “This has been possible because of the unity and confidence we have developed and the support we have received from the government.”

This work was supported by the Australian Government, through Water for Women.

Water is a valuable resource. In communities, households, schools and workplaces, water means health, hygiene, dignity and productivity. The sustainable and efficient use of water is critical in building resilience to climate change. Adapting to the impacts of climate change will help to protect health and save lives. That is why Australia supports socially inclusive and sustainable water initiatives across the Indo-Pacific region.