News

05/06/2023 – SIGMA Foundation observes World Environment Day, 2023 by conducting a state level consultation on Climate Change Impact at Nijalay, PHED. The eminent officials present were Mr. Surendra Gupta , ( IAS), Principal Secretary, PHED, Mr. Prabhat Kumar Misra(IAS), Principal Secretary, Department of Irrigation & Waterways and WRIDD, Mrs. Sandhya Yadav, Scientist E, CGWB, Eastern Region, Mr. Mohammad Mohiuddin, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, Mr. Manish Wasuja , UNICEF, ICO, Dr. M. N. Roy, President, SIGMA Foundation, Mr. Ayyaapa Masagi, Founder, Water Literacy Foundation, Dr. Pragyan Bharti, WASH Specialist, UNICEF and Dr. Animesh Bhattacharya, Chief Engineer, HQ, PHED, West Bengal along with other 25 water researchers and professionals from various departments. The workshop was attended by Discussions focussed on impact of climate change on irrigation practices in West Bengal, sustainability of drinking water sources in the context of Jal Shakti Abhiyan. A constructive light was thrown on Role of UNICEF in action for Climate Change and Environment Sustainability. The National priorities on source sustainability and O&M as a measure to address resilient drinking water supply services. Key findings of Water Security Plans for Purulia District and other lessons learnt from field were put forth in the forum. A detailed discussion was done on local solutions, ground water recharge options and best practices from other states. The way forward was critically analysed by PHED, UNICEF and SIGMA Foundation.

We strive to fulfil the theme of 2023, “Ecosystem Restoration” though our conjoint contribution

30/05/2023 – SIGMA Foundation is a pioneer in innovative application of Information & Communication Technology for monitoring various programmes and processes, including those for the water supply sector. It has developed a Digital Water Supply Monitoring System (DWSMS) for (i) monitoring the water supply service parameters like (i) pressure of water, (ii) residual chlorine level, (iii) pH, (iv) TDS, (v) turbidity and (vi) iron present in the supplied water. The parameters are measured by appropriate sensors and the data is transmitted by the IOTs fitted at the origin of water supply (pump house) and the consumer point. The data is automatically captured and transmitted twice every day (morning and afternoon after onset of the supply) into a web-based system for processing and displaying the result in a dashboard. One can easily visualize the service quality and whether that meets the norm. A snapshot of the dashboard is shown below.

This has been implemented as a pilot in Joypur Gram Panchayat of Amta II block of Howrah district with support from UNICEF and Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). The officials concerned can view the dashboard and take corrective measures, in case of any shortfall in service quality.

There is also a grievance redressal App which can be installed in the Android run mobile phone of any consumer to register complaint. A consumer database has been created in the system to enable them to register complaint after logging into the system. The system tracks progress of disposal of the complaints and the consumer is also kept updated of the progress.

Another very important feature of the App is that the registered consumers can share any observation on pipe leakage/ pipe burst or water wastage from the pipeline/valves etc. They have to take a geo- tagged photo and share the same through the App for displaying the same in the dashboard. This will be of immense help to the authority in charge of O&M to immediately know the problem for taking appropriate measure. This facility provides a unique opportunity to strengthen community watch on the pipeline which leads to better service quality and prevention of waste of water.

The system is going to be hosted in PHED server for its better use by the PHED.

SIGMA Foundation is going to present three technical papers on the august occasion of “XII International Water Congress” on 22-23rd November at, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. Significantly, 26 scientific papers have been chosen to be presented out of more than 200 abstracts received from various parts of the World. SIGMA Foundation is the one and only organization whose three papers have been accepted for presentation after scrutiny by the experts. The details of the papers are as below:

1. Dr. M.N.Roy – “Efficient Management of Rural Water Supply Lessons From West Bengal on Devolution of O&M of PWSS to Panchayats”.

2. Dr. Debasri Mukherjee- “Preparatory Approach of Water Safety Plan to Enhance the Water Use Efficiency in Rural Sector”.

3. Er. Sohini Tarafdar- “Development of Catalyst for Nitrate Reduction in Drinking Water for Enhancement of Water Use Efficiency in Water Industry”.

SIGMA Foundation was invited in a workshop on “Menstrual Hygiene Management: Access Livelihood and Disposal Issues” jointly organised by Fulcrum Hygiene Solutions and UTSA on 28th November, 2018 in Rotary Sadan, Kolkata. On behalf of SIGMA Foundation Dr. Baishali Bal, Mayuri Sen and Sohini Tarafdar attended the program. Interactions were held with Government Functionaries of Department of Panchayat & Rural Development, Public Health & Engineering Department, officials from Howrah Zilla Parishad, scientists from ICAR and several national and international NGOs.

he India UK Water Centre (IUKWC) is a virtual Joint Centre between the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt of India and the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), UK; hosted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in India and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in the UK. IUKWC implemented its first set of Grassroots Field Exposure Initiative (GFES) from 13th December to 15th December 2018 in Kolkata. It was aimed to promote the assimilation of local knowledge and users’ experiences to progress the concept of co-production and co-design and facilitate user feedback into science and policy. On behalf of SIGMA Foundation Dr. Debasri Mukherjee attended the workshop and shared her thoughts on water quality scenario in West Bengal context. Dr. Mukherjee clearly stated the mitigation measures of fluoride affected districts in West Bengal especially Tapan and Gangarampur block of Dakshin Dinajpur where Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) is suppling safe drinking water in 482 villages and 1,547 habitations. In context of arsenic affected blocks of Habra-I, Habra-II and Gaighata in North 24 Parganas, PHED is supplying water in 327 rural mouzas and 799 habitations.

SIGMA Foundation got the opportunity to present the paper on “Environmental Enteropathy” which was jointly written by Dr. M. N. Roy and Dr. Debasri Mukherjee during the ‘INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on Human Health and Sustainable Development Global Environmental Challenges’ at JNU New Delhi, on the 11th of January 2019. This conference was technically and financially supported by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change GOI, ESDACON, JNU, CSIR NEERI and Metropolitan University San Juan PR, USA. Dr. Debasri Mukherjee presented a paper on Environmental Enteropathy which was closely associated with the poor sanitary status and high incidence of stunting status in India.

European Union organised a Water Conference on the 13th to 15th March in Paris, France where SIGMA Foundation got the opportunity to release a video on water through French Embassy. This video covered the following issues as per Embassy’s requirement: Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG – 6) has laid a specific target to be achieved by 2030 in order to ensure safe drinking water for everyone.

SIGMA Foundation took a stride forward to leave no one behind by celebrating “World Water Day 2019 themed leaving no one behind” at the grassroot level with the community cluster of FSP, SOS Children’s Village, Kolkata (slum areas of Rajarhat and Narayanpur). The initiative was led by Dr. Debasri Mukherjee, Dr. Sabari Bandopadhyay and Soumyajit Basu. The Team focused on generating technical as well as behavioural awareness about water safety and security amongst the community. SIGMA Foundation took an initiative to take science to grassroot level by intriguing the concept of reduction in ground water table and recharge of aquifers amongst the community to make water security a mass movement in rural Bengal.