A solution for water-fetching communities

“Still we fetch water. But it is not like before when we had to trek or raft to go fetch water
from somewhere else, or someone’s house. In floods, we make rafts using banana trunks
go, and fetch water. In the dry, we trek to someone’s house to collect water. Fetching water
from someone’s house or elsewhere is a risk as well as the water is not always available and
secure. Sometimes to avoid the hazard, we risk and drink flood water which led to diseases.
It also is painful because, not only once twice but three to four times, and scorching to fetch
water. And Water, especially drinking water, is always a big matter to us,” said one of the
water-fetching women in a water-fetching community, Nurnahar.

Women are mostly involved in household chores wherein the water is the most essential
ingredient of their household’s chores. For this, water collection is a daunting task for the
women who live in char.

Nurnahar, Alefa, Reba, and Golapi are women of a flood-prone community at Bashhata
village, the village lies across the Jamuna River, in Saghata union of Gaibandha. They live at
the brink of the water, yet they are afar water. Financial constraints and disaster threats grip
their minds always being displaced from which they do not set up tube wells to avoid wasting
money on that. And what tubes well are set up, are shallow, and often go out of order.

“Living at the brink of the river, we do not have a single year when we do not face flood. And
on the contrary, to receding water, and shallowing tube wells, we face water shortage. So, it
does not matter whether it is flooded or dried, we always need to fetch water - drinking
water,” said Alefa, one of the women.

To tackle one of the community’s most pressing issues, SKS Foundation along with the
community, came up with the idea of the installation of a Double-Platform Tube well (DPT) in
the water-restrained community. But it was not time until the communities came up with a
plan of where and how the DPT will work in the community. From the community, someone
let his open and fronted space install the tube well, some are trained to fix and manage the
tube well once it breaks down.

The Double-Platform Tube well (STW and DTW), which also includes a five to six feet high,
second platform to provide Safe Water Supply even when flood waters rise, has provided a
secure and simultaneous water supply enabling the community to collect water in all
seasons – dry and flood, from the same place.

Resilience through Economic Empowerment, Climate Adaptation, Leadership, and Learning

(REECALL) 2021' Project, with the financial support of Oxfam, SKS has installed 40 DPT,
from which 4000 households are being benefited across Fulchhari and Gazaria unions of
Fulchhari upazila and Holdia and Shaghata unions of Saghata upazila of Gaibandha.

It is great relief for the water-fetching women who would always be insecure collecting water
from somewhere else.