Fedina

Report of the Network of Social Action Network for 2006

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:49:48 MET

Community Participation in Solid Waste Management

Mon, 8 May 2006 10:30:00 MET

The objective of the project is to create a zero waste residential neighbourhood and to promote a sustainable community based zero-waste management system in the slums of Koramangala in Bangalore. Committed staff have been involved in making the project work successfully with the cooperation of the local community.

Struggle for water Tank

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:40:00 MET

Installation of DEWATS in HA block promoted residents to take collective action to get a metallic water storage tank from the mining company.

On several occasions work group took representatives to the in charge officer of the company to a idle metallic water storage tank but in vain. Work group made arrangements for a public meeting. All the families participated in the meeting they decided that all the families should go to the mining company office and demand the officer to give an idle metallic water storage tank.

Community Health Insurance - a new Community Health System

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:20:00 MET

Article from the Deccan Herald dated Feb 28, 2006
A shot in the arm
Illness is a major cause of indebtedness among the poor. Many people in the State, however, have found a way out of the debt trap through the Community Health Insurance scheme, writes Bharathi Ghanashyam.

Mahadevi (25) is being treated for severe burns at Naganur Primary Health Centre (PHC) of Bailhongal taluk, Belgaum district, Karnataka, and requires a fairly prolonged stay in hospital. This means she will suffer loss of wages for the days she does not go to work, and even though her treatment at the PHC will be free, she will pay for any medicines that are not stocked by the PHC. All of this will come at a price she or her family can ill afford, and in all likelihood, will push them into a vicious debt trap.

Community Health Insurance - a new Community Health System

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 11:05:32 MET

Water, petrol of the 21st century

Thu, 7 Apr 2005 16:29:53 MET

Although it is not a hot political issue in India yet, water security has major implications for economic growth and public health. Together with transportation and electricity, it constitutes one of the three weakest components of Indian infrastructure. With increasing industrialisation and the cities becoming larger, water shortages in India -- as in the rest of the world -- will worsen.

Water consumption is rising much faster than the rate of population growth. This is expected to accelerate as people switch to Western-style lifestyles and diets -- one kilogram of meat needs more than five times as much of water as a kilo of cereals.

Water pollution is increasing and the amount of useable water is declining. Groundwater levels are also dropping rapidly. More than a million people in India die from waterborne diseases each year.

A third of the world's population lives in countries with serious water scarcity. In another 20 years, two-third of the world's population would be in this situation. Water may be the petroleum of the 21^st century. Some have suggested that wars will be fought over it.

'From a resource point of view, the biggest difficulty undoubtedly lies in water'

The bottled water industry has taken off in India because most of piped pressurised water is also contaminated. There is increasing acceptance that it is a commodity and not a fundamental human right. On the other hand, if politicians were asked about it, they would say that it is the responsibility of the government to provide safe drinking water.

If access to basic water requirements is a human right implicitly supported by law, then why aren't local and central governments in India working to ensure safety of all drinking water? Enormous human and economic costs stem from waterborne diarrhoea diseases. There is lost productivity and health costs.

Clean water initiatives contributed to the development of the West. In the US, the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 that imposed stiff controls on municipal and industrial waste and underwrote waste treatment along rivers and bordering lakes.

But there is a strong lobby for privatisation of water. Critics of this policy note that international water companies form part of the World Water Council (WWC), which advocates 'handling water as merchandise, whose just price can only be set by the market.'

The increase of water price for reduction of demand forces the poor to pay more for it, just for survival. On the other hand, where water is free as in many places in India, there is enormous wastage. Water taps are not closed, and water keeps on running until the municipal pumps have shut down or the overhead tanks have run dry.

But, treating water as a commodity has led to disastrous results. In September 1999, to comply with the 'structural reforms' accompanying an IMF loan, the Bolivian government gave Cochabamba's municipal water system to Aguas del Tunari, a multinational consortium of private investors.

Within weeks of the transfer of ownership, water prices rose to pay for the improvement of the city's water system. Bills doubled or tripled, and for some it amounted to a quarter of their monthly income. In response, protesters shut down the city. As rioting spread to other cities, the Bolivian government rescinded the water contract and turned over control of city's water to a cooperative.

Water privatisation has failed in other places as well. Vivendi, the French multinational company, had its thirty-year water contract with the Argentine province of Tucumán cancelled after two years because of alleged poor performance. Similar cancellations took place in Peru and Brazil because of popular opposition.

Although privatisation of the entire water resource for the community -- including that for bathing, washing and drinking -- has not been successful, people seem to be quite willing to pay high prices for safe drinking water.

Water projects in poor countries commonly deliver safe pressurised drinking water to just the prosperous sections of the cities. Most governments are unwilling to extend safe water and sanitation services to slums for fear of legitimising them. In these communities, people are forced to use the channels between homes to relieve themselves, which leads to contamination of both ground and surface water.

In the industrialised world, the common sequence of treatment processes for water collected from protected sources includes self-purification from sunlight, filtration through sand, and chlorination. These techniques are not feasible in poorer communities. Boiling water for disinfection for drinking requires substantial quantities of fuel, and chlorination is too expensive.

Eichornia crassipes- The wonder weed

Sat, 26 Mar 2005 10:23:18 MET

Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is a member of the pickerelweed family (Pontederiaceae). The plants vary in size from a few centimeters to over a meter in height. The glossy green, leathery leaf blades are up to 20 cm long and 5-15 cm wide and are attached to petioles that are often spongy-inflated. Numerous dark, branched, fibrous roots dangle in the water from the underside of the plant. The inflorescence is a loose terminal spike with showy light-blue to violet flowers (flowers occasionally white). Each flower has 6 bluish-purple petals joined at the base to form a short tube. One petal bears a yellow spot. The fruit is a three-celled capsule containing many minute, ribbed seeds.

CBS-SD Sustainable for Slums

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 14:10:00 MET

Lead in Paint

Wed, 9 Mar 2005 18:48:22 MET

Find here an link to an article on
"Lead in Paint and Soil in karnataka and Gujarat, India" , published in
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Higyiene, in January 2005