Water & Sanitation · India · Bihar
Jal Jeevan Collective
13yrs13 years at the problem
Community-run water testing and repair crews keeping village handpumps working across rural Bihar.
- Verified
The person behind it
Anjali Verma
Water steward, Bundelkhand
I grew up walking two kilometres for water. I decided no girl in my village would do the same.
Impact claims
- Problem
- Villages lose water access when handpumps break
- Intervention
- Trained local women as pump mechanics with a shared toolkit
- Outcome
- Pumps repaired within a week instead of a season
214Pumps in service · 2025-26
With: Village water committees- Problem
- Handpumps in 240 villages break within months and stay broken for a year or more.
- Intervention
- Trained village repair crews with a shared toolkit and a monthly water-quality test.
- Outcome
- Average repair time fell from 11 months to 9 days across the district.
240villages served · 2023
EvidenceWith: District Public Health Engineering Dept; village water committees
Attestations
Our pump broke in May and was working again in four days. Before, we waited months.
Sunita Devi · Beneficiary
We provided spare parts. The committee kept careful records of every repair.
Ramesh Tiwari · Partner
Our handpump was dry for two years. The crew fixed it in a week and taught four of us to maintain it.
Sunita Devi · Beneficiary
We have co-run water testing with this team since 2016. Their records are accurate and their crews show up.
R. Menon · Partner
Write to the people behind this project
Supporters, potential successors and volunteers can send a note here. It reaches them by email, and the two of you can carry on directly.
Stewards
- Anita Kumari · Founding steward · since 2013
Status: Active