WaterAid India (also known as Jal Seva Charitable Foundation) is dedicated to addressing the fundamental needs of marginalised populations in India by providing access to safe and assured drinking water, safely managed sanitation and good hygiene infrastructure. WaterAid’s work is grounded in the belief that water and sanitation not only fulfil basic needs but are foundational to dignity, health, education and opportunities.

Activities

The project WASH for Health and Dignity of Waste Pickers was started in January 2020 to provide waste pickers, their families and their communities in Bengaluru access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. Despite an initial challenging phase, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WaterAid India successfully achieved the project's overarching goal, in Phase 1 of Saamuhika Shakti.

The project activities were initiated with a recce visit to the communities to identify the intervention geographies, meet with the communities, assess the infrastructural gaps and understand the possibilities for interventions. Criteria used to identify the intervention communities included: 

• High presence of waste pickers households in the communities      
• Strong need for WASH interventions          
• Community receptivity to the interventions     
• Mix of notified and non-notified slums      
• Presence of other Saamuhika Shakti partners in the selected geography     

Following the recce, 13 communities were selected for interventions in Phase 1. After finalising the geographies, a baseline assessment and participatory assessment (PRA) were conducted among these communities, where social profiling and resource maps were created to assess current water infrastructure, institutions and issues related to water and sanitation in the communities. 

Additionally, GIS mapping was undertaken to document the existing water and sanitation facilities, along with a brief overview of the communities. This comprehensive exercise facilitated the identification of gaps and the implementation of community-driven interventions aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability.

The interventions carried out in Phase 1 include: 

• Training and capacity building: Developed 175 WASH Champions by training community members to promote water, sanitation and hygiene practices within their communities. Material support was provided to assist them in their work 
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• Infrastructure development: Access to clean sanitation facilities involved addressing the unique concerns of each community. In some, brand new facilities were built with the community keenly involved in the design of the toilets (📖 How would you like your toilets: A guide to building toilets for all), while in others it involved retrofitting old toilets, repairing the underground drainage systems or making available portable toilets for use. These works were carried out in eight locations across Bengaluru. Building sanitation facility brought transformative change in Sumanahalli Colony, see this short clip: 📹 What toilets can do for a community 

• Access to clean water through household and community tap connections, retrofitting of borewells and construction of storage and overhead tanks were undertaken through the Phase 1 of Saamuhika Shakti initiative. Water access connections were made possible in eight waste picker communities
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• Furthermore, WASH infrastructure materials were provided in three communities (four high-pressure water jet machines for toilet maintenance), 10 Anganwadi Centres (supplied TATA Swachh Stainless Steel Filters) to ensure access to safe water for children, staff and community members. Additionally, 12 handwashing stations were constructed at Anganwadis, serving 769 people
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• Establishment of O&M Committees: Established seven Operational and Maintenance (O&M) Committees in the waste picker communities with workshops conducted to streamline user charge collection, regular record updating and problem-solving. Provided O&M kits with essential tools for minor infrastructure repairs to ensure sustainability and continued access to clean and safe sanitation facilities for the community
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• Menstrual Health Management: Organised interactive workshops (📖 The seen and unseen: Waste picker women and menstrual health management) on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHM) for adolescent girls and conducted a survey to understand the menstrual management practices in the community 
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• Government relations: Held interface meetings with Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) representatives and community members to address WASH-related issues. Conducted stakeholder meetings with officials from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) and Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to inform project progress and explore collaborative opportunities. Organised a state-level consultation workshop for 80 community members to share experiences and discuss future steps 
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• Sustainability: Rolled out behaviour change campaigns across intervention areas to disseminate critical hygiene messages related to water, sanitation and menstrual hygiene. Conducted 162 WASH awareness programs and 80 MHM programs. Provided training sessions on WASH for members of Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCCs)  
               

In Phase 2, WaterAid India will build on the foundations laid in Phase 1 of the Saamuhika Shakti project. The focus will be on the phased implementation of hardware installations in communities and Anganwadis, alongside the launch of O&M activities to ensure the sustainability of the sanitation facilities post-project. To guide these efforts, baseline studies and social and resource mapping have been conducted to identify problem areas and map out solutions for DWCCs and Anganwadis. The WASH and menstrual health management initiatives undertaken by WaterAid India will be complemented by behaviour change campaigns to foster adoption and sustainability of the interventions.

By integrating infrastructure development with community engagement and sustained behavioural change, WaterAid India is laying the groundwork for lasting improvements in health, hygiene and overall quality of life for waste picker communities.