ITANAGAR, Jul 18: At a time when the GoAP is pursuing the goal of making the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) a success by aiming to provide 100% tap water connections to all households in the state by 2023, the success story of Serin, a quaint village located at an altitude of 2,000 feet in the Raga Block of Kamle district and a few others will elicit confidence.
Despite all the difficulties in implementation, the tiny and remote village inhabited by the Nyishi community with a total population of 130 which also requires a full one day trekking by foot to reach, has finally got a place in the country’s JJM map. This is a permanent respite from the daily arduous task of fetching water from nearby spring sources and the villagers are visibly elated as uninterrupted potable water will now be available in their premises. The project itself was an engineering challenge as Serin is situated on top of the mountain and all river-bed materials like sand, shingles, boulders etc. had to be collected from rivers located far below the village and bulky materials like steel, cement, pipes, etc. had to be carried by head loads from the nearest motorable road which is 22 km away from the project site after negotiating the tough terrains. Although a high operational cost compounded by non-availability of skilled labourers locally increased the challenges manifold, the state’s PHE department overcame all odds through meticulous planning and implementation.
Serin is not a stand-alone example of JJM success in Arunachal Pradesh, as Dalbing, another village located at an altitude of 3,300 feet in Upper Siang district with 79 households and a population of about 380 people is also a remarkable example of community mobilisation. The Adi inhabited village, like Serin has an inhospitable terrain and is situated on table-top hillock and the village community has contributed solidly in the form of labour. A similar tale of community participation can be observed in Upper Karko village which is located on the international boundary where villagers had carried the FHTCs, pipes and other construction materials during execution of works, besides assisting the PHED in plumbing works. Another village, Pumao, located at an altitude of about 3,900 feet in Longding, the eastern most district of the state had toilets made under Swachh Bharat Mission which couldn’t be used due to non-availability of running water supply. But after the completion of the JJM project, they are now being used by the villagers.
Topographically being a hilly state, gravity-based water supply system is used in Arunachal which technically means that the force of gravity is used to move the water downhill from a source to the targeted villages. Typically, under JJM implementation plans, an intake structure is built to collect water from surface sources, which is then conveyed to the villages through pipe systems.
The highlight of the mission is strict maintenance of water quality and post treatment, it is collected in a reservoir built above the village and then distributed to FHTCs through a network of pipes. PIB Itanagar

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List