Hariawan, Uttar Pardesh
Story by Vaishali Sharma
Making a lasting change in behaviour is rarely a simple process and usually requires self-commitment towards the effort and time we give. Each specific action for a better lifestyle is one step ahead for our change in behaviour.
Here, I am going to talk about some actions taken by the community of Hariawan, Uttar Pradesh for the betterment of their overall health and life during the global pandemic of COVID-19. The community is adopted by DSCL Sugar (DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited) and partnered with Piramal Sarvajal to provide affordable, accessible and safe drinking water.
I happened to interact with our location Operator Gaurav Ji to know the situations and visible changes in the past two months among the community members.
 |
Figure 1 Consumers are regularly sanitising utensils,
wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing |
He shared that "the community has started taking precautions and solely taking responsibility to protect their self. Now, we don't have to look for anyone who is maintaining the precautionary measures and who is not. From social distancing to regular washing and sanitising hands and their utensils is all now ingrained among them." "Log ab apna bachaav khudh kar rahe hai. Sabme bohot badlaav aate hue dekha hai. Aur jo shruksha ke liye baate batai hai woh apne app kar rahe hai. Social distancing karna, hath dhona, bartan saaf karte rehna."
He continued, "We are blessed that our village has a mic facility which plays a major role during these difficult times. With the help of mic, we are consistently sharing that it is utmost important to regularly clean our surroundings, home and have safe water and food." "Saaf aur swach khana banaye, saaf paani ka hi sevan kare aur swayam ko bhi lagataar saaf rakhe toh bimaariyo se bachenge”
One of the customers Somendra Singh (30 years old) stays 2 km away from the plant, has made a card and now having water from our Sarvajal Kendra. The conditions have made many such individuals realise that to protect ourselves from this invisible virus it is important to have safe drinking water and keep up with a good level of immunity.
He shared that from March, he has made 23 new RFID cards. By listening to this, I happily replied and said that the improvement in the water off-take is increased by 84% (Comparing March- 9377 litres from April- 17179 litres of total production)
 | |
|
He continued telling "with the new cardholders I regularly take feedback regarding the taste of water and how they feel after taking it for a week."
“While looking at their neighbours most of them have started taking water.” ("Apne aas paas ke logo ko dekhkar bhi logo ne saaf paani lena shuru kar diya hai")
Consumer Prabhat Mishra told him "Gaurav Ji Handpump ko to koi sanitize nahi karta toh kitna jyada risk waha se paani lena. Aap toh mera card banwa dijiye mai sarvajal se hi paani lunga. Ye saaf paani hai aur har waqt aap ise senitise bhi karte hai. Virus ab jaldi jaane se nahi raha tho apna bachaav kudh karke chalte hai" It is difficult to take water from the hand pump which is not sanitised and risky to take. This virus will not go easily, it is better we should all take care of ourselves. Sarvajal water facility is sanitised properly and is safe to have regularly.
I had a very positive and engaging conversation with the operator, wished him good health before finishing the call. He reciprocated and gave me a nostalgic feeling "madam aap bhi social distancing rakhe, ghar ka khaana aur saaf paani peeye, bahar ka pizza nahi khaaega, delivery boys ko bhi virus lag raha hai ab toh mai rozana news padhta hu jabse corona felna shuru hua hai"
Listening to him I realised how positively the community is taking action for their better lifestyle and protecting themselves from this virus. Let’s take inspiration from this community and take measures consciously for self and others.
Let's build our actions in a positive direction by changing our behaviour for a better and enhanced living with safe and affordable services of Sarvajal
 |
| Figure 3 Sanitising plant and community lanes
regularly |
