Key project activities

• To empower the community on WASH issues through community mobilization, strengthen local level institutions (BVM’s) and propagate understanding on government programmes and developments happening through regular interface with concerned department. In order to amplify collective strength of the communities through social dialogue and capacity building on WASH issues so that it creates a single platform who share the common interests which helps to resolve issues and sustain further.
• Capacity building for students in various aspects such as on WATSAN rights, advocacy, presentation skills, coordination skills, WATSAN policies and child rights etc.
• Guiding the community on monitoring the drinking water quality, hygiene behavior and demanding the rights such as right to water and sanitation.
• Regular training for the BVM members to build the capacity which ensures the well-built knowledge base on upcoming policy and schemes to leverage support from public body and guiding the communities for sustainable livelihood.
• The inception meetings were the Basthi (slum) walks were organized frequently, which help in understanding issue and prioritizing accordingly.
• Facilitate Representation of issues to Government Offices/ Officials/ Elected representatives to get visibility of issue that result in remedy.
• The information gathered is acknowledged and shared with the communities by conducting small Basthi meetings. This enables the slum dwellers to use the information during interface with the government.
• Key meetings were organized with the community leaders, city level interface and conducting Basthi Walk which helps to identify and prioritizing the issue.
• Regulating community through BVM helps to guide the community behavior and awareness about the developments. Hence, enabling the communities in a sustenance manner with regular efforts on dealing with the issues resolved and issues pending are updated by community people at community level.
• Ensuring the recurrent follow up in submitting representations of all the three clusters on the identified issues and monitoring functioning of service and resolving the conflict in rendering the service.
• User data collection.

Key Achievements

City Level Interface

• BVM was successful in building its network with the group of sanitary workers of GHMC. It conducted a press conference on 10.2.2014 to extend its support to the demands of the sanitary workers. Major findings pertaining to their health and hygiene, salary exploitation were recognized and resolving through continuous monitoring.
• The case of Banjara basthi reached a significant stand in sanctioning a budget of Rs. 8.5 lakhs for the fencing of the open Naala which was the cause of the anguish for entire community.
• BVM importunate efforts succeeded in dragging the supreme statutory body of Hyderabad i.e GHMC in hearing to their voice of rights and demands for resolving solid waste management issue and were handed over to the BVM team for further supervision. It also gained success in sanctioning the consumables for the area for collecting the wastes.
• Through direct approach through media, BVM efforts towards to attain visibility in exposing the issue of open drainage line got an immediate action from the commissioner GHMC for the renovation of the open drains. This initiative has indirectly benefitted around 1000 households of the upper class community who are not members of BVM.

Capacity building

• The project team had participated in the workshop on challenges in urban WASH sector in India at Delhi on 3.2.2014 to 6.2.2014. This workshop was very encouraging as it reflected the wide experiences and served as a platform for different partner groups to exhibit their work and exchange various different experiences of their programs at large.
• Two training sessions on RTI and Lokayukta were organized at BVM head office on 22.2.2014 and 23.2.2014. These trainings were very helpful to the BVM teams and the communities to know the happening developments.
• The key interventions that have been organizing on regular basis for school children and the women for creating awareness programme on hand washing and hygiene management, Basthi walks, Media highlights, Filing RTIs, and celebrating events like World Toilet Day in the slums. Capacity building of school teachers and Anganwadi workers in developing a School Sanitation team.
• Regular training programmes have been conducted for the anganwadi teachers and the school children as a part of their hygiene training programme.
• Regular programme on domestic violence were conducted for the socially deprived slum women who are ignorant about the policies that are pro-women.
• The women group of  Rasoolpura  are also in the initial stage of identifying funders to set up a low cost napkin making unit. The BVM is helping them identify the sources of funding and connecting them to various government schemes and supporting them in this effort.
• Water quality testing was the major intervention wherein the community was trained to test the water by themselves and understand the nature of it.
• On account of the Women’s Day celebrations, BVM Rasoolpura had conducted an awareness session on women protection and their rights. Around 50 adolescent girls had taken part in this programme.

Events

School Sanitation Program

• Under this intervention, In order to revolt on inadequate toilets at Musheerabad School, after several representations and consistent pressure by BVM team has achieved in sanctioning the construction of two toilets blocks at Govt primary school, by collaborating with the Lions club of Hyderabad.
• Rasoolpura BVM has organized a training program for the School San team of Govt. High school, Gunbazaar, Secunderabad. The school san children were trained by team members on different components of health and hygiene behavior. This initiation able to thrive in rousing and building capacity.
• Rasoolpura BVM team has supported School San for taking up tree plantation by persistent efforts for this intervention on the Biodiversity board of GHMC.

World Toilet Day

• On the eve of World Toilet day on 19th November and event was organised with the governmnet school children in all the three project sites to facilitate awareness generation, sensitization and behavioural change amongst the slum dwellers that are currently tiding against the issues of sanitation and hygiene.
• A total of 400 children participated in this event of which 100 were primary school children from Bholakpur, 200 primary and secondary school children from Rasoolpura and 100 children (mostly primary) from Addagutta. All the events took place simultaneously in the three areas. There were stalls on green toilets, cleaner toilets where in people were showcased the idea of maintaining public toilets and children's involvement was an added advantage.

Representation

• By engaging community people along with BVM for regular representations have been submitted to the Hyderabad Metro Water and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) for provision of drinking water, which was not supplied to the residents of the slum on a regular basis the BVM has been covered by both the leading local print and visual media and has provided with good visibility for the BVM at the city level.
• BVM members representation through prajavani conducted by the govt. statutory bodies like GHMC, Collector office etc. This platform has facilitated an opportunity for communities to confront with the officials to get acknowledge about the status of their submitted representation regarding the issue which helps them to understand future course of action. This initiation extended to inspect the Rasoolpura open Naala on 6.2.2014. Finally, the commissioner immediately ordered the engineer to work on the issue and submit him with the detailed report on the Rasoolpura naala.
• Anna Nagar has witnessed inefficient water supply and the other areas would receive water regularly for one hour. By several community led meetings issue was prioritized for representation. After continuous efforts, the water supply was rejuvenated and attained flexibility in access to water supply.
• World Toilet Day motivated school children to engage and encourage to raise voice for demanding their right that led to steady follow up of work on opening the defunct school toilets at the Rasoolpura Government High school also with the help of BVM regular follow up through Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM), officials sanctioned to repair the toilets and construct additional toilets for the 700 children in the Government school at Rasoolpura.
• Recently the intervention of BVM through several representations could able to rejuvenate the demolished community toilets at Mohammed nagar by GHMC. Also, through direct representation to district collector through Praja Vani, It could able to resolve the issues of community hall and school.

Overall, the project has achieved good visibility at the governance bodies. Even the project team engaged in every aspect of strengthening BVM as a apolitical body that would guide the community people. Through basing BVM as platform, it could able to address the representations and not only that ensuring the human rights, resolving and monitoring the functioning aspects which tend to make sustainable livelihoods. Especially issues such as drinking water, school sanitation, community toilets and drainage clearance.