Over 3000 ‘Jal-Samwad’ programs, 66 Mohalla Sabha conducted, more than 100 Water Friends designated since Aug ‘15
Nagpur: In a bid to give equal participation to The People -the fourth ‘P’, in ongoing uninterrupted water supply project (24×7 water supply project), The Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Orange City Water jointly have taken up an unique initiative of reaching out to citizens through a campaign named as ‘Jal Samwad: A communication with People’ (जलसंवाद ).
NMC-OCW which has been implementing the uninterrupted water supply project (24×7) under Public Private Partnership (PPP) concept in Nagpur is also giving special emphasis for reaching out to all the social strata- the fourth ‘P’ _ The people under this campaign. Almost 3000 ’Jalsamwad’ programmes have been conducted wherein thousands of citizens participated in the campaign.
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Wednesday 12 March 2025
Under ‘Jalsamvaad’, a bunch of activities are being conducted by NMC-OCW which includes reach out to college and school students, reach out to fourth ‘P” through programmes like Mohalla meetings, Senior citizen meeting, self-help group meetings, creating “Water Friends”, conducting health camps for slum dwellers , etc.
College/School Awareness Program: The NMC-OCW is reaching out to College and School students in an attempt to involve them in the ambitious 24×7 water supply project as well as to inform them about importance of saving water.
Under this, programmes were conducted in 14 schools and colleges and over 400 students were made aware of the project and its various aspects. The schools and colleges include Ambedkar Institute of Social Work, Matru Sewa Sangh Institute of Social Work, Tirpude College of Social Work, M. A. K. Azad School and Jr. College, Yashoda girls Arts & Commerce College, B.P. National Institute of Social Work, Mahadevrao Wade Jr. College, Javahar Gurukul Vidyalaya, Nagsen Adarsh Kanya Vidyalaya, Savitribai Borkar Kanya Vidyalaya, Matoshri Mainabai High School, Kundanlal Guptanagar School, Blue Diamond School, K. Narayan Vidyalaya
Mohalla Meetings (Mohalla Sabha) : This has proven to be a very effective tool to spread awareness amongst citizens. Before the start of works in any area, the NMC-OCW team for the project visits the residents of the area and creates awareness about the process of execution and the subsequent benefits. Since Aug ’15 66 Mohalla Sabhas have been arranged wherein over 4000 citizens participated across city.
Mohalla Sabha is a meeting conducted either before or during the execution of works under uninterrupted water supply scheme. In this meeting, the objective, the course of action and the benefits of project are explained to the people of the particular ‘mohalla’ (locality).
Self-help Group + NGOs: For an exponential out-reach; in addition to individual and group interactions, NGOs and Self-Help Groups are also contacted and appraised of the project status, etc. so that the information can be passed on to a very large audience through their network as well. As a part of social responsibility, Health Camps on Cancer awareness especially for women with Tirpude College of social work and NGOs like Indian Youth Welfare Association, Indian Cancer Association, Helpage India, Yuwa Pariwartan, etc. have been organized for the benefit of the society. More than 300 people have been benefitted/contacted through this.
Reach out to Senior Citizens: Senior citizens with their experience have an understanding capacity more that their younger counterparts. Also, the availability of time is a factor that enables them to receive the information in detail and to pass it on in detail too. They are also the ones who deal with the domestic water supply issue if living in a joint family where the rest of the members are engaged in their day-to-day chores. Thus, having firsthand information about the water supply projects help them deal with it more effectively.
Water Friends: NMC-OCW has taken an innovative step of making water friends who are beneficiaries of the project and they can spread the message about how he/she has been benefitted due to the project. These water friends are usually influential and respected people of the particular locality whose words have value in peoples’ minds. These Water Friends are working as the ambassadors of NMC-OCW to receive complaints, informing people about legal and illegal meter connections and even guide an educate people about the benefits of on-going uninterrupted water supply project in city.
Over 100 such people across the city have been designated as ‘ Water Friends’ of NMC-OCW.
The main objective of holding ‘Jalsamvad’ a communication with people … is to create a cooperative atmosphere in society by providing sufficient and adequate information regarding rehabilitation project to the citizens and also solve their queries regarding water supply issues, billing etc. on the spot.
All these efforts are resulting in an increased awareness amongst citizens by virtue of which the people are getting connected to the ‘people’s own project of Uninterrupted water supply project.’
