1 Copyright © Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), 2015. All rights reserved. 2 Bhandara has a population of more than 1.2 million people. The main economic activity is agriculture, especially rice, industries and forest resources. 66.6% of the population has drinking water sources outside their home in Bhandara district (per India Development Indicators 2012, reported by UNICEF). Surface and subsurface water in Bhandara is polluted mainly due to fertilisers, pesticides, brassware pollutants, mining, ordinance industry pollution and their waste water discharge into the river and ground water. Multi contaminants are found in the local water sources - mainly nitrate, TDS, Fluorine and Chlorine, bivalent cations copper and zinc leading to health hazards. There are frequent episodes of water borne diseases – cholera, jaundice, and typhoid especially in the monsoon season, as sewage treatment facilities are negligible and raw sewage is discharged into the river. BHEL understands the importance of clean drinking water as fundamental to good health. With Safe Water Network, BHEL sought to improve the lives of the rural poor around its station vicinity by providing locally- owned and operated, affordable, sustainable water to communities to improve their health, generate livelihoods and most importantly enable girls to attend school. BHEL committed to set up 240 mw solar photo voltaic cells and 100 mw photo voltaic modules in Sakoli, providing employment to over 3,000 people. This report captures how the BHEL corporate social responsibility (CSR) intervention transformed the lives of the people in these villages and adjoining areas where treated water is supplied. 3 CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................ 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 6 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 8 2. BHANDARA ............................................................................................................................... 8 3. IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS ................................................................................................... 9 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & FINDINGS ........................................................................... 12 Qualitative ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Quantitative .................................................................................................................................... 12 Findings .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Safe Water Network Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 15 Indicators ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Water Quality .................................................................................................................................. 18 5. IMPACT ................................................................................................................................... 18 I. Social Impact ........................................................................................................................... 18 Consumer reported health benefits ................................................................................................. 22 Health and hygiene education to consumers .................................................................................. 22 II. Economic Impact ..................................................................................................................... 24 Livelihood generation ...................................................................................................................... 24 III. Environment Impact ................................................................................................................. 24 Environmental sustainability............................................................................................................ 24 6. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................ 25 7. IJAL-COMMUNITIES-BENEFITS ............................................................................................ 26 Better access .................................................................................................................................. 26 Improved health .............................................................................................................................. 27 Benefits .......................................................................................................................................... 27 Reject Water Utilization ................................................................................................................... 28 8. ANNEXURE ............................................................................................................................. 29 a. Questionnaire ....................................................................................................................... 29 b. Water quality test reports (reports of all stations available on request) ................................. 31 c. Logical Framework Analysis ................................................................................................. 35 d. List of beneficiaries .............................................................................................................. 36 e. Operators trained ................................................................................................................. 38 4 List of Tables Table 1 iJal stations in Bhandara district............................................................................................................................ 12 Table 2. Summary findings of baseline and end line study: ..................................................................................... 15 Table 3 Field Progress Snapshot July2015 ...................................................................................................................... 17 Table 4. List of number of operators and distributors .................................................................................................. 24 Table 5. Details of water harvesting structures ............................................................................................................... 25 List of figures Figure 1 Bhandara district map ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Figure 2 Picture of iJal station ................................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 3 Map showing iJal stations in the region ........................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4 Distribution of population according to age .................................................................................................... 13 Figure 5 Bar graph showing occupation ............................................................................................................................ 13 Figure 6 iJal users and non-users according to their socio economic class .................................................... 13 Figure 7 Bar graph showing the Family size .................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 8. SEC profile of users .................................................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 9 Water collection ........................................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 10. Reasons for using iJal .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 11. Impact of iJal on other sources ........................................................................................................................ 19 Figure 12. Purpose of iJal .......................................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 13 Frequency of buying iJal ....................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 14 Reasons for using iJal ............................................................................................................................................ 21 Figure 15. Impact on short term illnesses .......................................................................................................................... 22 Figure16. Impact on long term illnesses ............................................................................................................................