We would like the City of Vienna for its support for this project.
The main goal of the project is the improvement of the sanitary situation and the water supply of approx.. 1,000 inhabitants of the villages Bama, Nafa, and Thumbada, Ward 14, Chhayanath Rara Nagarpalika, Mugu district, by building a source intake structure, reservoir and pipeline with 5 public tapstands as well as, initially, 10 private tapstands for individual households in the villages.
The source has a discharge of 1.15 l/second and thus provides enough water for community. Currently, the water supply is insufficient – in Bama village, for instance, there is only one reliable public tapstand, which is a long distance from many households. This means that many of them have only a limited water supply which has to be carried by women and children on foot. This leads to a precarious hygiene situation – washing hands and other basic hygiene measures are severely limited.
In addition, an existing, but damaged reservoir will be repaired in the course of the project.
The project was planned by PHASE Nepal in close coordination with the local government, which will also support it financially; in addition, the community will contribute to the project by providing some of the work (mostly earthworks).
The pipelines will be planned in such a manner that additional public and in particular tapstands for individual households can be added later.
In addition, the project includes the formation and training of a WASH committee in the community, which will be responsible for maintenance of the systems as well as arbitration in case of conflict. Also, it includes the training of 4 individuals (including at least 2 women), who will maintain and repair the water supply system, receiving a salary from the local government.
The project will form an integral part of existing PHASE programmes in the region: PHASE supports the health post in Bama with two staff as well as medication and supplies. The health staff provide hygiene education in schools and mothers’ groups, and thus increase awareness of the importance of everyday hygiene. This is an important input in order to ensure long-term behavioural change through the project. In addition, PHASE implements an agricultural programme in the community, supporting vegetable farming, for which an improved water supply and the possibility of irrigation is an important resource.
