4.0 THE PROJECT

Partnerships and Community Sanitation (PACS) was undertaken in July 1996 as a pilot project on Plot Nos. 23 and 31, covering 3% of the total population of the Old Collectors Compound.

The partners involved in the project were:

    1. Non-Governmental Organisation - Youth for Unity and Voluntary Organisation (YUVA) and Apnalaya. The 2 NGOs would act as facilitators by mobilising, organising and training communities to build sustainable partnerships with authorities for sanitation solutions. There would be a sharing of experiences and ideas so as to feed into strategy.

      2. This project was the first as ìpartnersî, though both NGOs have been members of the same broader alliances and networks in Mumbai for several years and have come together on several platforms, such as the Ration Kruti Samiti which monitors the Public Distribution System providing subsidised fuel and grains.

    2. Community - Based Organisation - Representative groups of residents from the two plots. It would take initiative in advocating their concerns to the authorities so as to gain the right to basic amenities through a collective process.

    3. Peopleís Organisation - Manav Mukti Morcha. Its member would act as animator in the community of which she is a resident.

    4. International Organisation - Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Its representative, R.V. Anderson, approached YUVA to take up a sustainable urban environment initiative in partnership with civic authorities. It would act as a consultant and absorb the soft costs of training technical assistance resource persons.

    5. Municipality - The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) would contribute technical and financial inputs and co-operate in facilitating the process of obtaining sanitation infrastructure and participate in community processes.

    6. State Government - Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA). Since the plots were on Collectorate land, belonging to the State Government, they fell under the purview of MHADA. MHADA would approve the plan of the toilet submitted by the community and sanction the infrastructure including sewerage requirements.

 

4.1 OBJECTIVES OF PACS

PACS was conceived as a partnership between the Municipal Authority, NGOs, CBOs and POs to provide comprehensive community sanitation solutions. The goals were:

1. Physical Services

To establish community services selected, constructed, financed and operated under the control of the communities, but with assistance as appropriate from the BMC and others, in the following areas:

2. Social Development

To build the confidence and capacity of the communities to service their needs through development of :

3. Financial Development

To enable the community to generate and maintain community funds for the enhancement of the community.

4. Documentation

To record the PACS process and lessons learned for future use.

The residents of the 2 plots made it clear that while the macro - goal was general sanitation, it must be kept as a long-term one. Their immediate problem of dysfunctional toilets must be resolved first. The figures below reveal the acuity of the need for toilets.

Plot No.

No. of households

No. of Toilets

Working Toilets

Toilets Built In

Dysfunctional since

23

133

16

3

Early 70s

2-3 Years

31

133

16

0

Early 70s

5-7 Years

With their toilets completely unusable (Exhibit C) residents were forced to remain beholden to other plotsí residents for use of their toilets. With only 20 functional 10 seater toilet blocks on each plot, 12.5% of the total, in the entire Old Collectors Compound (Annexe III) and the high density of use, people were denied permission and had to defecate in the open. The increased pressure on the few working seats exacerbated social tensions. Recalls the PACS - MMM worker who resided on Plot No.31 , "Every morning began with fights. Residents of Plot No. 31 were blamed for choking the toilets on Plot No. 42 which they used. Plot No.23 residents were forced to shell out the maintenance costs for the toilets they utilisedî. The single-point agenda of the residents for new toilets became the priority as they had to be in place before the monsoons. Simultaneously, waste management at the level of the household was initiated. (Section 11.0 of this report.)

5.0 SITUATION PRIOR TO INTERVENTION

5.1 SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES

There was no community - based organisation in the area. The primary form of collective action was youth groups which organised cultural and sports activities. In the absence of any kind of collective leadership at the community level, 2 women were actively involved in obtaining amenities. Their educational qualification as graduates and their profession as teachers at the tuition classes they conducted for children made them the natural leaders in the community. An elderly religious man was turned to for advice because he was held in respect by the residents. The residentsí pressing need for basic amenities made them pawns in the hands of a power broker who claimed affiliation with a political party. When PACS began its intervention, he presumed that like him, it was a cloak to milk the community of its money and said as much only to be rebuffed.

6.0 STRATEGIES

6.1 COMMUNITY EDUCATION

Community Education/Training/Information Collection and dissemination was undertaken. The goal was to provide sanitation and hygiene education to enable the community to examine the causes and possible solution to their sanitation, solid waste and surface water management needs, and thereby equip residents to make informal decisions on the development of services they want, together with the actions to be taken at individual, community and government levels.

 

6.1.1 Activities

The first activity was the measurement and mapping of the entire area. Workshops were held on sanitation using Audio-Visual aids likes slide shows and two community camps introduced solid waste management techniques.

6.1.2 Indicators

6.2 CAPACITY BUILDING

In the context of the sanitation, solid waste and surface water management needs of the community, the goal was to build the confidence and capacity of the people to serve their needs through the development of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) which can respond to issues of their choice, manage their affairs at the local level, liaison with other agencies; build leadership skills in the community, particularly among women and minority groups.

6.2.1 Activities

With a dispersed community which did not believe much could happen, a considerable amount of time was spent in group building. Door - to - door visits were made to explain the project and seek the community's participation. At the outset it was pointed out that while the new toilets would be constructed, a committee of local people would have to be formed to manage the toilet and oversee the construction activity. The individual families agreed to volunteer but raised the question of whether the others would be as involved. The need for organising collectively could therefore be underlined and meetings were fixed with the women. Subsequently, workshops were organised. 2 women resource persons were invited to the first workshop in January, 1997. One of them recounted her struggles for water and electricity in slums and the other narrated how she was taking on the builders who were trying to exploit the people under a government housing scheme. Women opened up and spoke of their own experiences, the problems posed by the lack of toilets and gained confidence of succeeding in their struggle. Other workshops followed on group building, self-awareness, general sanitation and community planning.

Community development camps including one for 40 women introduced community groups to solid waste management and sanitation concepts. On Plot No. 31, a Toilet Committee was formed with women in the majority as the community felt they were the worst-affected by the lack of civic facilities.

6.2.2 Indicators

6.3 COLLECTIVE ACTION

The Toilet Committee was negotiating with MHADA for infrastructure provision and a principal agreement was reached when all of a sudden the old toilet was demolished. The community tracked down who was behind it and who had held out the promise of a new toilet in its place. The individual was identified to be the Municipal Corporator who was utilising the funds earmarked for such purposes under the aegis of the Slum Improvement Board (SIB) of the BMC. At this point, the community intervened and after several high-level meetings with SIB and MHADA, it was agreed that the new toilet would have water and electricity.

However, for nearly 4 months from February to June 1997, there was no sign of construction work. The huge excavated pit became a pond and a garbage dump attracting mosquitoes. Children playing in its vicinity began to take ill. Finally a child fell into the pit and had to be fished out. Luckily he survived. Recalls the PACS team member and MMM worker residing in the area, ì It was early in the morning, I was woken up. Someone said, ëItís so dark, the pit can't be seen. A child has fallen inside.í " But the PACS team very consciously did not visit the area and awaited the community's response. The Committee was galvanised into action and corresponded repeatedly with the Authority and visited the Engineer. The women threatened to write to the superiors and the Engineer pleaded with them not to do so assuring them that the work would re-start.

7.0 PHYSICAL SERVICES

Within 6 months after the re-starting of work in June 1997, the new toilet (Exhibit D) was inaugurated in December 1997 by an elder of the community and the PACS worker. She recalls, "He was supposed to do the inauguration. But he thrust the scissors into my hands asking me to cut the ribbon while he broke the coconut to mark the auspicious occasion." For the women, the new toilets came as a big relief. "Women have more problems. And because our toilet was under construction, the other plots refused to let us use theirs anymore. They would say, ëNow you're getting your own, why are you coming here?í We faced terrible hardships because of this." Several sessions were held with the community and Toilet Committee on how the toilet should be operated. Finally, the tried and tested strategy of the "lock" system was chosen : Designated households would be responsible for a toilet seat to which each had a key. It was favoured because as a resident put it, "This is the best system. That way we form a pressure group. And we can tell who is not maintaining the toilet properly."

The toilet built by the Slum Improvement Board did not come with water and electricity. Initially, the community was content to have atleast a toilet, "Why do we need water and electricity? Weíll manage." But since it was part of their original design and realising that without them the toilets would have a short lifespan, the Committee entered into negotiations and succeeded in obtaining water and electricity connections.

7.1 TIMELINE

It was thought that the activities for the toilets could be initiated simultaneously on both plots. But this was not possible due to resource constraints. The people on Plot No. 23 were therefore told that the work on the toilet on their plot would be started only after the completion of the work on Plot No. 31. An attempt was made to get the BMC to undertake de-sludging for the toilet on Plot No. 23, but the machine was not available.

8.0 RESULTS