Monday, November 06, 2017

PVCHR submission to UN SR on water and sanitation - India visit




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shirin Shabana Khan <shabana@pvchr.asia>
Date: Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 12:17 PM
Subject: PVCHR submission about access to water and sanitation to marginalized communities
To: srwatsan@ohchr.org
Cc: "Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi" <lenin@pvchr.asia>, Shruti - <shruti@pvchr.asia>

 
To,                                                                                  6 November, 2017
Mr. Leo Heller
UN SR on Water and Sanitation

Dear Sir,

Greetings from Peoples ‘Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)

PVCHR welcome your visit to India.  We are sharing grass – root experience about access to water and sanitation to marginalized communities:

  • There is no proper facility of the drinking water in ratio to the population to the marginalized communities (Musahar ghetto, Muslim ghetto, urban Slums and other backward communities) in one ghetto. For ex: In Ramaipur mushar basti of Pindra block of Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh, India 26 family depends on one hand pump to meet their needs. This hand pump gives contaminated water and people are compelled to drink that water because there is no other source of drinking water to them. After several complain no other action taken by the concerned authorities. This is not only condition of one village but other villagers are also facing the same problem. It is also noted that Dalit are facing discrimination for access to water and sanitation facilities.
  • There is no any special plan for providing safe drinking water to the people living in rocky area. For example people of Raup Ghasiya basti in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, India had to travel around 1 km every day to get water. They had to cross the national highway. Many girls faced intimidation, sexual assault and were stalked for the sexual advancement.  Due to scarcity of water the people of Ghasia Basti did not properly clean themselves. Due to which children faced corporal punishment and caste based discrimination in the school.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oivRcR_NgII.  The Lodhi school’s principal told “These Ghasiya children come to school late, come when they want to come, no matter how much we tell them to come on time. Their main aim is to come and eat, not to study. Just see how dirty they are. They don’t bathe, they don’t wear school uniform, and they smell. When we ask them why they are so dirty, they say there is no water. The problems of these children will never get solved. Their parents are uneducated. We can’t mix these children with normal children because they are spoiling them too. These children are not able to mix with others.”

Eight-year-old Pankaj said, The teacher tells us to sit on the other side. If we sit   with others, she scolds us and asks us to sit separately. The children from the other community don’t play with us or talk to us. The teacher doesn’t sit with us because she says we are dirty. The other children also call us dirty every day, so sometimes we get angry and hit them. We also sit separately when eating. When we ask for food, the cook says ‘There’s no more for you.’ But when the children from the other community ask, the cook says ‘Come and eat.’ If our plates touch the serving bowl by mistake, the cook gets angry and abuses us. So we keep our plates at a distance when food is served.

  • There is no proper drainage system in the ghetto of the marginalized communities due to which there is water logging problem during rainy reason which generated lots of communicable diseases.

  • This year there was grave flood in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh, India, which effect life of poor’s and marginalized http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/103-year-old-man-cremated-on-rooftop-in-flooded-varanasi-1449824. Situation in Baghawanala Slum, where water from the Varuna river has entered a large part of the slum, continued to be precarious, with people marooned in flooded localities waiting for more relief material like food, medicine and water. School building of Baghawanala children is also effected by flood.  The people were facing the serious health problem. 

  • There is lack of public toilets and urinal for the female in the rural and urban area. Availability of Sanitary pads to girls and women from marginalized communities.

  • Lacking of sanitary facilities to marginalized communities such as dalit, tribal and minorities is one of main reasons behind malnutrition death.

Looking forward right to water and sanitary facilities as realization for marginalized at grass roots level in India particulars and world in general.

With regards,


Lenin Raghuvanshi,Founder and CEO,PVCHR


 Shruti Nagvanshi, Founder and Convenor, Savitri Bai Phule women forum


Shirin Shabana Khan, Program Director, PVCHR






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