There is no reason to think a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens cannot change the world; Indeed, that's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

Citizen first campaign for water supply and sanitation accountability

Water and sanitation sector in Hyderabad is a completely neglected area of concern, among government officials and civil society. However, the implications of immense urban growth include increasing unemployment, lack of access to shelter, lack of urban basic services and inadequate funds which is overburdening the existing infrastructure. If we consider the issues pertaining to the infrastructure facilities not been backed adequately with provisioning of urban services, these services falls short and driven towards the inefficiency and often inadequate to support ever increasing population levels. However, although it is the duty of the urban local bodies (ULBs) to address the issue of school sanitation, water supply, provision of community toilets and other urban services etc, due to tight budgets and inefficient service delivery has rendered a situation that has little hope for alleviation. Hence the need for strengthen and modernization of the present practice with increasing effective institutional arrangements to govern urban communities.

Water and sanitation services in the slums at city level require perfection in terms of achieving efficiency and quality. A new intervention by involving the community people extends to enable the sustenance through capacity building. Such that this citizen's first project ensure a change that possible only through sustained pressure from community people and their representative Civil Society Organizations (CSO). Hence, it is anticipated capacity building of community people, establish networks and develop information on WATSAN services through this project. There is a need to monitor closely the issues of drinking water quality, quantity, supply and distribution and treatment of waste water by government agencies. Information and data has to be generated on water contamination due to inadequate infrastructure, improper management and skewed priorities of funding in the sector resulting in poor communities having to pay a very high cost for water, sometimes, as high as their own lives.

This project on Water Supply Sector Reforms and accountability has endeavored to acquire greater transparency and public participation in the government decision-making process. This aims at ensuring their rights, to improve their standard of living, sustainable communities by creating a space where people get sentient of schemes that were formulated. The thought process initiated to build the capacities of community people, particularly marginalized, in identifying their problem and facilitate them to build up their competence for negotiations with concerned stakeholders.