They believe in self-help

KOVALAM DESERVES to be patted once again. After cutting through the menacing knots of plastic carry bags, with a system of fines and regular cleaning by the volunteers of the Kovalam Development Society (KDS), the villagers now have a system that could solve the water scarcity.

Less than a month ago, the villagers used to buy a pot of water for Rs. 5 - a stratospheric price for the cash-strapped villagers dependent on fish catch and its price at the village auction every morning and evening.

Narayanan, the young man who founded the KDS and whose commitment to the village's improvement is total, is quite unlike his educated peers who excel in the art of getting funds through glib speeches in English and some of whom do not even mind straddling a garbage removal tricycle for a mug shot in the print media. What matters to Narayanan - and the proof of this is not his speech but his action - is what he does, and how he does it. Despite being educated only up to the seventh standard, his work has impressed many outsiders, many of whom patronised the Fishermen's Cove where Narayanan was a lifeguard.

The villagers organised themselves to clean up the wells and a pond next to the nearby dargah. One Mr. Shribhashyam from France donated Rs. 9,000 to sink another well that now has crystal clear water. The only garbage one could detect was a couple of steel vessels which crashed to the bottom after their cord slipped or snapped. There were some mineral water bottles, but no plastic bags or other junk you would find even in wells of more well- educated families who possess fancy paper degrees from universities in India and abroad.

The village women, drawing water from the well late in the afternoon recently, said, "This water is good for cooking but not for drinking. We also use it to wash our clothes." The water tasted good with hardly any salinity. It was interesting as the shoreline was hardly 200m away. The fresh water-salt water gradient was therefore more than 6m deep at that point.

When Narayanan was a lifeguard, he had arranged for tankers to supply water to his village. But after his ties with the hotel snapped, the water supply stopped. The villagers then began buying water at Rs. 5 a pot - a great burden to many. Narayanan dipped into the KDS reserve, which gets generous assistance from the Hacin Foundation of Switzerland, and with aid from Mentors, an NGOs bought seven 2000 litre PVC tanks. He installed them at specific points in the village and bought tankerloads to fill them up.

The distribution is based on a token system where cardboard from boxes has been cut into small strips, and each bears "two potfuls" in Tamil, with his signature at the bottom.

The tokens are priced at Rs. 2 each and water is given only when these tokens are surrendered. The system appears to be fair because only after each family gets at least two potfuls, the remainder is given away to those who need more - of course at Rs. 2 for every two pots of water. The villagers are happy because they pay only Re. 1 for a potful of water compared to Rs. 5 earlier.

"Oh yes, we are happy. And why shouldn't we be? We had to pay Rs. 5 for a pot. Now we pay just Re. 1," said a group of women who had just filled their pots with excess water from one of the tanks.

What Narayanan wants is cheaper water from the Government because private water suppliers charge a hefty sum. He has tried to contact the Kancheepuram Collector, Mr. D. Rajaram, but has not been able to push his case very far. Mrs. Asha Menon (popularly known as Revathi of "Mouna Ragam" and "Thevar Magan" fame) has shown an abiding interest in the welfare of this village. She was impressed when she saw the villagers take an initiative whenever the Government failed to respond. She has spoken to the Collector and in her letter of June 16, 2001, to the Collector, she wrote, "I request you to kindly consider their request of providing four tankers of drinking water everyday."

"We are willing to pay for this water. If the Collector arranges for the supply, water will be cheaper, and the villagers will need to pay less per pot of water," said Narayanan who needs to pay not only for the water but also the assistants who regulate the distribution of water.

A village that has covered half the way on its own, saving the Government a significant sum of money, looks forward to a helping hand - for water. They do not want this free. So the Government again needn't spend a paise. The villagers only look forward to an active intervention. An assured supply of four tankers of water everyday. Is the Government listening?

GOUTAM GHOSH

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