2005 Progress Report
During the summer 2004, heavy monsoon rains have inundated many parts of our project region causing massive landslides resulting in loss of arable land, damage to foot trails and rendering many villagers homeless. The villagers homes are made of mud and rocks and prolonged driving rain can literally dissolve the masonry walls. Many villagers are seeking assistance with the rehabilitation of their fields and homes. Our local field staff is currently surveying the extent of the damage and possible assistance to the worst affected families.
At the conclusion of the previous drinking water/sanitation program, we still had a huge backlog of villagers' requests for assistance with sanitation. Since the assistance with sanitation is being made available to all villages that have previously received our assistance with drinking water systems, assistance with sanitation shall remain as an ongoing activity.
One of the design features of the permanent latrines assisted by NSP is that they produce biogas and can be retrofitted with biogas plants and cooking stoves, thus providing two-fold benefits - excreta free village environment and healthier living environment in chimney-less homes. The urban population has several choices of fuel to cook their meals: gas, electricity and kerosene. In rural homes, it is firewood, because for the subsistence farmers kerosene as cooking fuel is unaffordable. Although firewood collected in the woods is free, it has a negative environmental impact due to deforestation in regions with inadequate forest cover. Some parts of Kabhre district north of the Mahabharat turned into arid land as a result of deforestation. The illustration below in the Timal region of the district shows a relatively young forest with all trees bared of two thirds of the lower branches.
The two illustrations above both relate to cooking with firewood. The one on the left above shows the cooking grate usually located in the corner of the living quarters with the upper wall and ceiling rafters all covered with black tar. The illustration on the right shows women carrying freshly cut tree branches.
In order to mitigate the negative aspects of deforestation on the environment and the health related aspects caused by smoke, the utilization of renewable energy as a substitute for firewood seems to be the logical alternative. The local government is very supportive of biogas technology and provides subsidies toward installation of biogas reactors. The Minister for Science and Technology also urged NGOs and INGOs to promote the technology at the grassroots level. The government also acknowledged that the biogas technology plays a significant role in upgrading the living standard of rural women. We intend to initiate a biogas pilot project within our target region and eventually adopt biogas as one of our basic human needs activities.
Michael R. Rojik, Executive Director
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