| Safe water for the community |
Dhirkot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir
The October 2005 earthquake brought about significant changes in the local landscape having huge effects over people lives and livelihoods. Water resources were particularly affected as they either receded, or were diverted from previous routes – people no longer had access to water. Moreover, the public infrastructure also suffered substantial damage following the earthquake. The phenomenon associated with earthquake, like landslides, contaminated the natural springs and deprived the local people of access to clean and safe drinking water. Chamyati has a population of 23,345, with five smaller revenue villages named Kotli, Nathgran, Sangar, Bathara and Kanyati. In these villages people are facing enormous problems of accessing safe drinking water. Most of the water supply schemes and other infrastructures were severely damaged by the earthquake of 2005. Following the earthquake, there has been some improvement during the reconstruction phase with the support of The Well Foundation & Islamic Relief, along with reconstruction of some drinking water supply schemes. The wider needs of the community however remain significant given the severity of the disaster. The problems are multiple in a post-disaster situation. The problem of water shortage is obvious. Women are mainly responsible for fetching water from two to three kilometres away, on a rigid terrain, with serious implications for their health. The bad hygienic conditions can be easily linked to water scarcity causing the emergence of communicable diseases. Project Goals:This project - Safe Water for the Community - will improve community access to safe drinking water by installing Drinking Water Supply Schemes. Furthermore the project will also focus on capacity building by training locals to look after their new water wells. This will ensure that projects are sustainable with the community themselves being able to look after their maintenance and upkeep. The project will provide easy access to the community of water by installing gravity driven drinking water supply schemes. This proposed project will be implemented in Chamiyati, Bagh. This union area was also amongst the worst affected by the devastating earthquake in 2005.
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