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Unity is strength. The village organisation of Yadavalli village in Narkatpally Mandal has proved that any village activity can succeed if there is unity among the people.
The fluoride content in the water of Nalagonda district is the highest in the country and the inhabitants of Yadavalli village have been suffering from the effects of fluoride for generations. Excess fluoride intake causes yellow spots on teeth, bone damage, birth defects and the early onset of physical handicaps. People of other villages would not let their girls marry men from Yadavalli village. Parents worried about their children’s future.
Yadavalli village was selected for the watershed development programme in 1995. In the initial stages of the programme, women were not interested in its activities. Only the men participated actively. The project implementing agencies BIRDS and PILUPU, set about changing this situation. They convened meetings with women and created awareness among them about many different issues. Finally, due to constant persuasion the women were motivated to form self-help groups.
In 1996-97 only 2 self-help groups were formed. Today there are 22 self-help groups, each with 10-22 members, each running its own savings and credit activities successfully. In 2003, all these groups came together to form the village organisation. The formation of these community based organisations has led to the meeting of members once a month. The groups discuss development, social and personal issues regularly. Sometimes representatives of other agencies are invited to these meetings.
At one such meeting the people were discussing a child that was born handicapped. The discussion lead to the conclusion that the cause of the handicap was the well water, which was contaminated with fluoride. The women did not know how to deal with this problem and resolved at this meeting that they would strive to know more about contamination by fluoride and implement remedial measures.
They met doctors at Kamineni Hospital in Narkatpally, along with watershed officers. After many discussions they realised that the concentration of fluoride in the groundwater could not be reduced immediately. But they were told that filtration could reduce the consumption of contaminated water to some extent. The village organisation arranged to supply water filters to all its members at a cost of Rs.150 per member, but these water filters did not work as accumulated fluoride only choked them. The initiative was a failure.
This situation was discussed at the meetings, and to find a permanent solution to this problem they invited the District Collector to the village organisation meeting. During the meeting the villagers requested the Collector to help them solve the problem of fluoride contamination in the water. The Collector told them that if everybody contributed Rs.500, he would have a roof water harvesting plant constructed in every house. He told them that drinking this water would be the best method of avoiding the harm caused by fluoride contamination. But the poor in the village told him that they could not spare Rs.500 and asked the Collector for financial assistance.
Moved by their plight, the Collector ordered officers to construct a roof water harvesting plant for storing rainwater in every household, free of cost. Each tank was cleaned with the first rainwater and bleaching powder was sprayed to protect it from germs and bacteria. Each plant supplies drinking water for between six months to one year depending upon the size of family. This drinking water has protected the villagers from illnesses caused by excessive consumption of fluoride.
Thus an age-old problem has been solved by the intervention of the village organisation and it is in fact a victory for the women.
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