| Volume: 3 Month: August 2006
News from Secretariat
Core Group Meeting
The 12th core group meeting was held on the 28th of July at Plan International office. The website of WES-Net India was formally launched at the meeting by Ms. Verity Corbett, Programme Support Manager, Plan International (India). The major areas of discussions held are, areas of improvement to website, MOA and registration, ADB and IRC collaboration. more>>
Website of WES-Net India
Website of WES-Net can be viewed at the URL: www.wesnetindia.org and contents are being loaded on to the website. Members are requested to forward information related to their activities and also from the sector to make the website useful and comprehensive.
Solution Exchange
WES-Net secretariat is in regular touch with members of UNDP solution exchange initiative. A meeting was held to update progress at both ends. Areas of overlap, membership sharing and future areas of work were some of topics discussed. It was agreed to take steps to clarify members being enrolled on the services and linkage between Solution Exchange and WES-Net at both ends so that the services offered are effectively utilised by the members.
Research Coordination
A meeting with Mr.Depinder Kapur, Country Representative and Ms.Shipra Saxena, Programme Officer of WaterAid was held on the 23rd June, 2006 at WaterAid’s office. WaterAid management agreed to take steps towards research coordination activity.
Registration and Membership
As per the communications received from UNDP, the WES-Net membership has crossed 1000 mark. MOA of WES-Net India has been finalised by WSP legal experts and will be corrected as per the suggestions of the core group members at the earliest for taking up registration process.
Collaboration with IRC
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WES-Net secretariat members met Mr. Manavalan, ED, AFPRO and Mr. Balaji Singh, Director (Emergency & Rehabilitation), CARE India, separately during month of July, to discuss issues related to WES-Net functioning and to seek their support to the network activities.
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WES-Net also participated in the consultations on status of basic services in India focussed towards achieving MDG goals organised by OXFAM on 20th July 2006 at New Delhi. Mr.Arumugam Kalimuthu, Chair Person, WES-Net presented inputs to the session on water and sanitation and its linkage to health.
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News from Members
Community Update from Solution Exchange for WES-Net (From Pankaj Kumar, UNDP)
The solution exchange for WES-Net community’s update no.3 was released on 7th July 2006. The community has grown steadily and has more than 1000 members at present. Discussions on several issues were held from the last update period. Some of the topics on which consolidated replies prepared based on the discussions are, low-cost technology for treating sullage in special soils, the issue of convergence in WES programmes and reward mechanisms promoting successful urban WES projects. In the coming months, more discussions on Water Resource Management and Governance issues will be focused apart from water and sanitation issues. more>>
Scaling up Urban Initiatives in Madhya Pradesh (From Shipra Saxena, WaterAid)
WaterAid has partnered with the UN-Habitat to develop effective community service delivery models in four cities of Madhya Pradesh for future scaling up by the State Government titled “Slum Environmental Sanitation Initiative (SESI)” supported under the Water for Asian Cities Programme. This two and a half year pilot project, initiated during October 2005, is being implemented in close collaboration with the city municipal corporation and the urban local bodies of Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur. This initiative will test various pro-poor urban governance approaches while contributing to the 10th &11th goals of MDG.
Effective Management of Solid and Liquid Waste (From Santhanam,ISAP)
Waste management needs to be holistic and must adopt an approach that is closer to nature to bring about multi fold benefits. Waste management techniques need to be revisited and modified to suit present day’s complexities to avoid entry of toxic wastes into the environment, which are being increasingly produced at homes and other establishments. Treatment of waste generated at household, farms and other biological waste generating sources must include segregation, methanation and stabilisation along with the use of bio-sanitisers to treat waste in a holistic manner. more>>
Community-Led Toilet Projects in Maharastra (From Chetan Vaiday, Indo-US FIRE Project)
The Indo-USAID FIRE project is assisting the Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad (SMKMC) Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra since last 3 years to implement a citywide community-led sanitation program with the active involvement of women groups, community based organisations, City Corporation and Shelter Associates (an NGO). The project demonstrates that the model of community-managed infrastructure at slums can be scaled-up through the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BUSP) or Integrated Housing and Slum Development Program (IHSDP) of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. (JNNURM). more>>
Technology Solves Water Problems of School Children (From Shipra Saxena, WaterAid)
Usually children at schools, which do not have a piped water supply connection or an electricity connection to run a borewell pump, suffer due to lack of sufficient water for drinking and other hygiene needs including the use of toilets. To address this issue, Sambhav Social Service Organisation (SSSO), an NGO partner of WaterAid in Uttar Pradesh, implemented the idea of using “Force Lift Handpumps to the borewells” to fill water into the small overhead tanks kept on rooftop of school buildings. Such initiatives ensure availability of water in schools to meet various needs of the children with a little manual work of pumping.
IRC’s Sharing and Learning Workshop for Resource Centers (From WES-Net)
WES-Net was invited to a workshop organised by IRC, Netherlands on Resource Centre Development (RCD) Learning and Sharing Workshop during 3rd and 7th July 2006 at New Delhi for RCs in the South Asia region. The workshop was organised to facilitate various processes involved in the learning, sharing and disseminating of knowledge within and outside resource centres and ultimately to develop various products to fulfil the needs of the sector players effectively. Various facilitation tools were also used to during the course of workshop to enhance the participant’s skills on facilitation. Facilitators Notes(Source IRC)
National Water Quality Meeting, New Delhi (From Paul Deverill, UNICEF)
Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Supply Mission and UNICEF organized a two-day meeting in May 2006 focusing water quality technologies to assist senior decision makers in selecting appropriate technologies. A report on the Evaluation of Water Quality Field Test Kits published by UNICEF was also disseminated on the occasion.
For more details contact Paul Deverill.
Multiple District Survey of Water Quality (From Paul Deverill, UNICEF)
National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme being launched across many states need effective measures to address a number of information and capacity gaps. With this in mind, UNICEF is developing a multi-district survey instrument with technical support from NEERI. This is designed to compare the results of sanitary surveillance, h3S strips, turbidity readings and quantitative assessments of contamination. It is hoped that the survey, which is based on a cluster sample technique developed by WEDC with support from WHO and UNICEF, will involve up to ten states across India. First results will be available by the end of the year. For more details contact Paul Deverill.
Improving Staff Capacity To Enhance Program Quality (From Arumugam Kalimuthu, Plan)
For effective WES interventions on the ground, well-oriented and trained staff members on various issues of WES and the mitigation measures are necessary. Plan International is organizing a series of integrated training on water supply, environmental sanitation and hygiene including exposure trips to frontline staff working in the programmes being supported in India. First batch of the training was held at Kodaikanal during last week of July 06 and in the next three months, 7 such training courses would be conducted.
Tamil Nadu Government adopts Holistic Water Management (From Dr.A.J.James, Pragmatix)
Change Management initiative of the TWAD Board, Chennai, which was presented at various occasions across the country to share its effectiveness during the pilot phase, will be adopted across the entire state of Tamil Nadu as per the circular of the Managing Director, TWAD Board. more>>
Can Rural Communities Afford Good Quality Drinking Water (From Dr.Parsada Raju, Byrraju Foundation)
According to Dr.Prasada Raju of Byrraju Foundation of Andhra Pradesh, rural communities can afford high good quality bottled drinking water at affordable costs (Rs.1.50/-for a 12 litres standard refill can). Having demonstrated this in several villages, the foundation is replicating the idea across many countries. Cost for establishing a comprehensive ”Sujala Unit”, developed by the foundation, including a RO plant and other necessary equipments along with the cost of building works out to Rs.7,00,000/-. more>>
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Press Releases
First Public Ecosan Toilet In Tamil Nadu (IRC-Source News)
First community Ecosan toilet was opened in April at Musiri Town in Trichy District of Tamil Nadu by the Society for Community Organisation and People's Education (SCOPE). SCOPE, a local NGO, is implementing the Musiri Ecosan Pilot Project as part of the ISSUE programme, managed by Waste, The Netherlands. The project aims to build two community and 500 individual Ecosan units besides creating awareness among builders and engineers.
For more information visit http://tinyurl.com/j4etf
Study Of Water Supply And Sanitation Services In Cities (IRC-Source News)
Water and Sanitation Program - South Asia (WSP-SA) in partnership with the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) is initiating a ten month “Consumer Survey and Demand Assessment for Water Supply and Sanitation Services in Four Cities: Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai (India)”. The study aims to collect baseline conditions and preferences, institutionalise customer surveys as instruments of public accountability, and help develop tariffs.
For more information visit http://tinyurl.com/m9oga
Namakkal: Dustbin Free Town In TN (Toxic Links)
Namakkal - the poultry capital of India - has been a zero garbage town for the past four years. There are no dustbins in this little town of Tamil Nadu. The service comes absolutely free with no funding from either the state or the centre. Vermicompost unit run by a private group converts sixty percent of the waste into wealth. The Supreme Court has applauded Namakkal as a role model and the municipality has also secured ISO 14001 certification for environmental management. more>>
Innovative Community-Led Total Sanitation Approaches In Maharashtra (IRC-Source News)
Innovative approaches towards community-led total sanitation introduced in Maharashtra along with incentive based schemes pay-off. The Water Supply and Sanitation Department in Maharashtra produced a field note on the innovative experiences. Some of the approaches used are prizes for best clean villages, incentives like house tax waver for handing over of garbage at fixed locations, etc. more>>
From Plants To Plastics (India Together)
Plastics have become synonymous with modern life, but are difficult to dispose of and have become a significant source of environmental pollution. Biodegradable plastics are now a possibility, and a shift in India's agricultural biotechnology thrust may help put them to good use, says Vaijayanti Gupta. more>>
Social Justice Finds Place In First National Environment Policy (Toxic Links)
The country has now its first National Environment Policy in place with social justice and poverty alleviation, economic growth and environmental conservation, as its three main planks. more>>
Compact Biogas Plant Making Waves (India Together)
Biogas plants are not new, but their size, relative unwieldyness and reliance on large quantities of cattle dung have held back their potential attractiveness for the domestic cooking sector. That may change soon, thanks to the ingenuity of Dr Anand Karve. Vinita Deshmukh reports about Karve's new award-winning compact plant. more>>
Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting: Water Quality Issue (IRC-Source News)
A new international review shows that the quality of harvested water from roof catchments often does not meet the drinking-water guideline values. Most of the studies from different parts of the world reveal that harvested water is heavily contaminated microbiologically by a variety of indicator and pathogenic organisms unless special care is taken during collection and storage of rainwater. Heavy metals and trace organics could also pose problems in some cases. more>>
Clean Energy Knowledge Hub In TERI (DO Channel)
ADB today signed an agreement to establish a knowledge hub on clean energy at India's Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). more>>
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Publications
WHO-Guidelines For Drinking-Water Quality (Source: IRC-Source News)
The new version (third edition of the Guidelines for drinking-water quality, Vol. 1. recommendations) includes, more guidance on management of emergencies and unforeseen events, additions concerning chlorination by-products and developing standards for volatile substances, and several new fact sheets for chemical substances. more>>
Hydrology and Water Management in the Humid Tropics (Source: UNESCO)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had released a publication consisting of presentations of technical papers and discussions on the Hydrology and Water Management in the Humid Tropics theme. The book contains speeches, conclusions, recommendations, final statements and technical papers that were presented at the colloquium. more>>
Participatory planning for integrated rural water supply and sanitation programmes
(Source: WEDEC)
The guidelines and manual of WEDEC aims to assist the decision makers of the challenges in the WATSAN sector with a detailed account of processes and methods for enabling to users to solve the issues. The guidelines and manual are designed to help planners and managers in national governments to develop their own rural water supply and sanitation programmes. more>>
Ecological Approach To Sanitation In Africa: A Compilation Of Experiences by Peter Morgan (Source: Ecosanres)
The links between sanitation, agriculture and food production that actually work in practice, and can benefit the users beyond the requirement of providing a toilet alone. The book aims to demonstrate that effective toilets for use in Africa can be built by a family with very little support from outside. more>>
Knowledge and information management in the water and sanitation sector (Source: IRC-Source News)
This paper attempts to clarify some of the issues around knowledge management and explores current thinking on knowledge management, information sharing and learning in relation to the sector. It discusses important factors in knowledge management, such as people, processes, technology and strategy, and identifies possible enablers and barriers to success. more>>
“Capacity Building for Ecological Sanitation” – Resource Material CD-Rom (Source: GTZ)
Teaching materials on ecosan from many sources are compiled in a joint effort to develop a comprehensive capacity building on ecosan and these are released in a CD-ROM to disseminate information on sustainable sanitation. A limited number of CD-ROMs can be ordered free of charge by mailing to ecosan@gtz.de
WELL Factsheet on “Finding Water and Sanitation Information on the Internet” (Source: WEDEC)
This fact sheet focuses on water and sanitation information on the Internet. It gives insight into what is available and what search tool you could use for which purpose. It also provides some tips on how to evaluate the quality of the information you have found and keep track of information in the water and sanitation sector. more>>
Water and Sanitation : Institutional Challenges In India (Source: IRC –Source News)
Proceedings of the seminar on developments in the Indian drinking water and sanitation sector, held in May 2003 organized by the Indo-Dutch Programme on Alternative Development (IDPAD). The book portrays the current issue in the sector, draws conclusions on private sector participation in the urban sector, compares developments in water resources management in India with similar developments in Europe and outlines the areas for further research. For orders mail to: Manohar Books, India
Sanitation Issues in the Tsunami Affected Areas (From Feby Jacob, TNTRC)
Article of TNTRC from Tamil Nadu captures various issues related to sanitation in the rehabilitation context. This issue focuses on the Ecosan and other useful methodologies for promoting sanitation during emergency rehabilitation. more>>
WELL Briefing Note on “A Strategic Approach to Water and Sanitation in Disasters” (Source: WEDEC)
This Briefing Note considers the issues surrounding emergency access to water and sanitation following both natural disasters and the impact of conflict, and discusses subsequent approaches to rehabilitation and mitigation. more>>
Cyclones and Lessons Learnt on Managing it in the Past (From AIDMI)
The southasiadisasters.net’s 12th issue on disaster management series focuses on the occurrence of cyclones and various management measures adopted in India during such natural calamities in the past. Articles on lessons learnt during various devastating past episodes of cyclone are also included in this issue. more>>
Characteristics of well performing public water utilities (Source: IRC-Source News)
This report of World Bank focuses on attributes of well-run public utilities and identifies important factors that influence their performance. While it proposes a framework of assessing public utility governance: accountability, autonomy, customer orientation and market orientation, it also aims to provide a better understanding of how the external environment influences the performance of public sector utilities in developing countries. more>>
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Events
Managing Information Resources in the Digital Age (From CSE)
Managing information today requires special skills and calls for investments in strengthening the information infrastructure and skills of the organisation. This specially-designed short training programme on ‘Managing information resources in the digital age (August 22-25, 2006) is brought to you by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi. more>>
India International Conference on Sustainable eco-City Development, Bangalore (Source: Ecoeng)
International Conference on Sustainable ecoCity Development (ecoCity 6) as a part of the International Convention of the Cities of the Future is proposed to be held in Bangalore during July/August 2006. more>>
Cohort Training Programme (From Anupam Nidhi, Lead India)
LEAD India is conducting the “Cohort Training Programme” to build capacity for sustainable development. Professional from the Government, Non government organizations, media and academia, with keen interest in environment and development issues are invited to participate in the training. more>>
DHAN foundation (From A.Gurunathan, Dhan Foundation)
Fifth Training Workshop on affordable drinking water supply through Biosand filter planned in September 2006. The training will provide knowledge on the design and use of affordable technologies for purification of drinking water. more>>
Understanding Environment Impact Assessment (Source: CSE, New Delhi)
Civil Society members and state regulators alike are invited to a training programme on Environment Impact Assessments conducted by CSE, New Delhi from 28th August to 1st September 2006. CSE is conducting the course free of cost and the enrolment is on the first-come first-serve basis by August 15th 2006. more>>
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Vacancies
Research and Reporting on Water
Organization: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Location: New Delhi
ceesouth@ceeindia.orgContact: jgupta@cseindia.org
Source: http://www.cseindia.org/joinus-index.htm
Research Associate
Organization: TERI
Location: New Delhi
Contact: recruit@teri.res.in
Source: http://www.teriin.org/about_oppurtunities.php
Freshers with technical background in architecture / urban planning, engineering and /or environmental sciences
Organization: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Location: New Delhi
Contact: jgupta@cseindia.org
Source: www.cseindia.org/aboutus/joinus/war_water.pdf
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