Bhubaneswar: A Saniwall or SwatchaKantha (in Odiya ) along with a QR code was inaugurated in five Wards of the city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha. This Saniwall is a printed flex pasted on the wall of the Ward Offices at Ward 23, 57, 9, 3 and 52 containing all the information regarding water and sanitation in the concerned Wards. It provides segregated information about the total number of households in the Ward, its population, the number of vulnerable people, which include Persons with Disability, the elderly and the Transgender population. It provides the status of desludging of toilet pits both at the individual household level as well as at community toilets. Apart from this the wall gives information on water supply, segregation and collection of waste, aggregated weight of waste etc. In order to ensure accountability the wall has the dates of review meeting mentioned which are to be periodically updated. This wall has the telephonic details of the WATCO (Water Corporation) officials, the Junior Engineer and the community representative. The QR code will help people make demands for desludging services as well as provide feedback.
This Saniwall was set up by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in collaboration with the Centre for Advocacy & Research (CFAR) an NGO working on issues and challenges of water & sanitation among the urban poor in 22 wards of the city of Bhubaneswar, supported by Water for Women Fund, Australian Government.
The Wall was inaugurated by different dignitaries which included the Additional Commissioner, BMC Shri Laxmikanta Sethi in Ward 57, Shri Rabi Narayan Jethi, Zonal Deputy Commisioner, South West Zone at Ward 23, BMC, Shri Purandar Nanda, Zonal Deputy Commisioner, North Zone, BMC at Ward 9, Shri Pratap Patnaik, Zonal Deputy Community Organiser, BMC South West Zone, at Ward 52 and Shri P. K. Acharaya, Ward Officer, North Zone, BMC, Ward No 3.
It was also attended by the respective Sanitary Inspectors, as well as the members of the Single Window Forum (SWF) and Community Management Committee (CMC) from the different settlements who will act as the custodians of these walls along with the BMC officials, by ensuring regular supplies and services on water and sanitation at the community level. The Ward office would become a touchstone for efficient services
In his inaugural address the Additional Commissioner said, “Saniwall is like a mirror of the settlement. It will help us to get information on all issues related to water and sanitation including where we are lacking and find solutions to address the gaps”. The Ward officer, Sanitary Inspector and Community Organiser of the Corporation will work closely with Single Window, Community Management Committee, Slum Development Committee, and Sanitation Volunteers, “ to ensure water and electricity connection, waste collection services and household toilets to make Saniwall a meaningful initiative for both the government and the community,” he added
Shri Jethi, ZDC said that the availability of written information on a wall would make for quick action and easier decision making, which would make the process more citizen-friendly. He suggested that as Ward 23 was a geographically large area, three meetings should be held every month to ensure complete coverage. This would also help resolve 80% of the water and sanitation issues at the Ward level and make the Ward officer proactive. Mr Purandar Nanda thanked CFAR for this innovative idea of developing a Saniwall. Ms Surya Kanti Jena, ex corporator, Ward 09 appreciated CFARs work and called the Saniwall a great step to track WASH related services
Also speaking on the occasion, Smt Sasmita Patra, Swachha Sathi (Sanitation-user Facilitator) said that while we have been educating the people on waste segregation, but often without much success as people continue to throw waste everywhere. Now with this Saniwall and review meeting every month, we will be able to take necessary corrective action to ensure proper management of waste. Prabhati Sahoo of Ward 57 expressed her happiness at the Saniwalls installation and said they now had one convergence point to bring all their grievances to. A total of 25 SWF members, 28 CMC members, 13 Swatcha Sathis, 19 Slum Development Committee members, 45 SHG (Self Help Group) members, 4 Jal Sathis (Water-user Facilitator) and 33 Area Level Federation members attended the inauguration. Five members from the transgender community also attended the event at Ward 23.
Comments are closed.