Work

I have been seconded to EHA's Andaman Water Project. Right now the project is in its pilot phase. We are working with 10 villages to try and increase the quality, quantity and proximity of clean water. In conjunction with community based groups we are looking at options of rainwater harvesting tanks, bore wells with hand pumps, piped systems, filtration systems and cleaning existing sources, among others.

The rainwater tank system we are using consists of sheets of corrugated iron with a liner to make it water tight. Although we are still working on the design.

Rainwater Harvesting Tank, North Andaman.

We are doing both mechanical drilling and hand drilling of bore wells. In sites that are near a road we can use a drilling rig, but many of the villages con not be reached by road and so the wells need to be bored by hand. A hand pump is then installed to extract the water. We are also testing the water to insure its quality.

One method of testing the water from a hand pump,
Apam, Rajesh and Anand, North Andaman.

Another method of testing the water,
Rajesh, Apam and Anand, North Andaman.

Only a few days after I arrived in Port Blair I was whisked away on a two week trip to North, Middle and South Andaman. The objective of this trip was to have three Stakeholders Meetings and then have a regional seminar in Port Blair to bringing together what we had leaned. The stakeholders included members of the communities, Government officials, Forest Department, Public Works Department, other NGOs and anyone else who had something to say about the water situation. This was a good way for me to not only see much of the island and get to know the team but also get a crash course on what EHA and my work for the next few years will be about.

One of the Stakeholders Meetings, Baratang.

This post is dedicated to my Aunt Bonnie who thinks I am just vacationing and not actually doing any work.