The Bindal River used to flow freely. It now resembles an open sewer and cuts through the heart of Dehradun. It is approximately 20 kilo meters long and has slum developments running almost its entire length. It is a health hazard to the people, especially the children living in extremely poor conditions along it.

When Dehradun was declared the capital of the newly created State of Uttarakhand, thousands of rural villagers flocked to the city as economic migrants. There was no affordable housing available and so they settled on the banks of the Bindal, in what were originally temporary shacks. These have now consolidated into communities, but without any amenities such as running water or sewage disposal. This is all dumped into the river bed, which no longer flows freely or cleanly.

   

The children of these slums live in filth and have no access to any kind of opportunity to break out of the poverty cycle. Addiction, disease and malnutrition are a continuous part of this cycle. This is unacceptable. Aasraa is the engine which will provide these children, and their parents, with a fighting chance.

Aasraa is currently concentrating on the area under the Bindal Bridge to start its redevelopment work and hopes to spread its efforts along the remaining

banks of Bindal and in other neglected areas of Dehra Dun. It hopes to create a model which can be replicated in other parts of the city. Aasraa has already conducted a series of workshops to raise awareness of a variety of issues and solutions in the slum area.
 

So far, Aasaa, with the great generosity from the shop keepers at Bindal Bridge, led by Anjay Verma, has been loaned a space under the shops to put down a concrete floor for school lessons for the children and vocational training for the women and older drop out children. This space was a disused dumping ground for several years. The children of the slum cleared this space with their bare hands in a month so they could study. It was an awesome achievement.

This has also provided a focal meeting point for the community where ideas, future plans and developments can be discussed.
Aasraa has also installed a 500litre drinking water tank for the community. The children have benefitted from the access to clean water but this is a limited supply and needs to be increased urgently.

Aasraa and Manurbhav joined forces to work with the children and young adults of the Bindal slums. Aasraa has provided tracksuit uniforms for warmth in winter and is providing cotton uniforms for the summer, made by the ladies from the slum, who are learning how to sew. Uniforms not only clothe these children, but provide a sense of belonging and unity to the project and team. It makes them visible and gives them an identity.

A daily hot milk program provides nutrition for the children. Their diet is very restricted and lacking in necessary vitamins. Aasraa supplements this further with adding ‘satoo’, a traditional food source, rich in vitamins and minerals, to the milk.

The daily two hour project (from 4pm to 6.30pm) runs as a remedial education program with classes based on age and ability. As the children learn, those who have never attended school are brought up to a level where they can join school. Those who are already attending government schools are helped with their course work and when sufficiently improved are sent for admittance to better fee schools and sponsored.

Aasraa has worked in close collaboration with Nijaat on many occasions, targeting children as young as six who have been exposed to drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The aim is to provide counselling to addicted youth, prevention in terms of awareness and incentives in terms of vocational training to keep youth busy and productive.

Aasraa is trying to link up with the Uttarakhand Urban Development Board to work within the Bindal community on environmental issues such as water and solid waste management.

The community is keen to be used as an experimental area for the implementation of closed toilets and a clean water supply.

One of Aasraa’s future aims in Bindal is to explore ways of treating waste matter in the river bed. We are currently researching a bio treatment project and the possibility of making bio gas and fertiliser. The basis of bio treatment is to separate sludge from solid matter. Solid matter such as polythene may be able to be recycled and sludge matter sprayed with a bio agent to speed up decomposition. This treated matter can then be used as fertiliser. This would be an enormous undertaking.

Aasraa would also like to establish a monthly health clinic on the banks of Bindal for the children and expectant/ lactating mothers.