Community water project in Thar, Pakistan
Over six years, more than 60 small communities in the Thar desert and Thar Parkar, Pakistan, organised themselves to campaign for better services.
With help from CED and the Participatory Village Development Programme (PVDP), they dug underground water storage tanks and developed community water resources. Few of them now need to make the difficult migration to irrigated areas in times of drought.
The first project included:
- constructing 800 underground water cisterns
- constructing 5 wells
- rehabilitating 20 wells
- constructing 10 ponds
- planting 15,000 trees
- starting 800 kitchen gardens
- helping local villagers develop committees to interface with the local authorities
- organising 40 workshops to train on water management, livestock management, kitchen gardening and advocacy
A second project continued the work with:
- Village committees established in 30 villages
- Water security plans produced in each village
- 900 kitchen gardens planted for fresh vegetables
- 15,000 saplings planted
- 900 rainwater harvesting systems dug
- 42 wells repaired
- 2 new wells dug
- Technical training provided in each village
- Advocacy training provided in each village
Who benefitted from the scheme?
The first project directly helped nearly half of the 10,000 most vulnerable people in 30 project villages with a total population of 39,000.
The second project helped women in 900 vulnerable households directly, with improved water security and healthier, more stable lives. They are now more resilient to drought, empowered with village committees, and don’t need to migrate so they can access better education.
The sanitation project directly impacts 1,000 school pupils through better latrines.
Who did CED partner with?
The Participatory Village Development Programme (PVDP), a Pakistani NGO with a good track record in community development.
What did it cost and who paid for it?
The first project was fully funded by a £145,300 grant from the Scottish Government.
The second project was jointly funded:
| Scottish Government | £247,231 |
| SSEWA-PAK (Tearfund) towards dam | £13,333 |
| Other project donations | £1,432 |
| CED | £4,920 |
| Total | £266,916 |
The sanitation pilot project was funded by CED, including donations from individuals, of £11,300.
Video
YouTube video
Case History – Thar Project 1 (PDF)