January 20, 2017
Regarding the Kalika WASH project (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) signed in August last year, the following progress has so far been made:
1) Staff recruitment: Staffing for the project team has been finalized by the NRCS-Kaski. There are six members of staff including two female. The key members of staff are the same as those who worked for Unica’s project previously, so they are quite familiar. Two technicians will be appointed when the construction work starts. The chairperson of the NRCS-Kaski, Mr. Bamdev Dhungana is in overall charge of the project, with Mr. Shukra Subedi and Mr. Kalidas Sapokota being appointed as project manager and engineer respectively.
2) Exploratory meeting with the community: A first exploratory meeting with the local community took place, targeting key stakeholders of the project. This includes villagers as well as local political leaders and the secretary of the village development committee. During this meeting, the key objectives and other activities relating to the project were discussed.
3) Formation of Water Users’ Committee (WUC): WUC has a crucial role to play in the project as their support at a local level is indispensable during project implementation. In addition, they are the key organisation looking after and managing the project after the phase out (handover) has been completed. The villagers in Kalika selected a 12-member WUC (another member will be nominated at a later date), which includes four female members. The committee is led by one of the locals, Mr. Tej Raj Timilsina who is chairperson. The WUC has already assumed its responsibility by signing the MoU with the NRCS and has opened an office in the village.
4) Cleaning Campaign: The WUC had conducted a cleaning campaign in the village with participation from villagers. The assumption is that this will be done on a frequent basis to maintain hygiene.
Despite the longer holidays during Dashain and Tihar, the progress made thus far has gone according to plan and is quite satisfactory.
