Sarala B.K, a resident of Chainpur village in Hariharpur Rural Municipality-2, Sindhuli, has to walk a long distance every day to fetch water for her family. She had to spend her whole morning fetching water for drinking purposes.
It takes her an hour to bring home one jar of water. She rations water to finish work and heads out again to fetch another gagri (basic water vessels used in rural parts of the country).
“Every morning I wake up in the wee hours of the morning. I carry a jug, a gagri and a bottle to fetch water from Jaruwa kuwa (well), which is about 20 minutes away from the village,” said B.K.
Sharing her woes, B.K said considering the problem, her family had managed to extract little underground water through deep boring six months ago. But unfortunately, the well dried up again.
Many women like B.K in this village bear the brunt of these circumstances. Villagers are forced to rely on the well of Chainpur that is located at Madan Bhandari Highway. This is the only source of water for about 200 consumers of the village.
Lal Bahadur Bholan, who has been operating a hotel in Chainpur for the past two years, complains that there is an acute shortage of drinking water in Jhanjhane, Chainpur, Shreepur and Chawri Chowk.
He is of the view that the shortage of water has made the hotel business worse.
According to him, the locals who have wells in their household use that water for bathing, washing clothes, and for use of livestock. “The water from the deep bore is not safe for drinking purposes. This is the only reason why locals have no choice other than to walk for an hour just to fetch a jar of water from Jaruwa Kuwa.”
Expressing her worries, B.K said the only source of drinking water of the village started drying up in the winter season. The situation gets even worse during April-May month.
The water level in jaruwa kuwa increases only after the onset of monsoon, making it easier for the locals to fetch water, she added.
Considering the plights of the locals, the Sreepur-Chainpur Lift Drinking Water Project is being carried out to meet the water demand of 500 households of four villages of the rural municipality.
Chairman of Hariharpur Rural Municipality Karsang Lama informed that the drinking water project was started a year ago at a cost of Rs.10.7 million.
However, the construction work has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 90 percent of the work has already been completed, he added.
Lama informed that the transmitter and electricity are yet to be installed because the solar power couldn’t pump water from the elevator. Tanks and taps have been constructed under the scheme.
Source : TRN,
