The sources of the Airari and Labisa drinking water projects in Nalgad Municipality-5 of Jajarkot dried up due to the earthquake two years ago. Due to which, about 80 houses in the two settlements are facing a shortage of drinking water. ‘We are forced to go to the surrounding villages to collect water, and we are also forced to wait in line to get water,’ said local Dil Bahadur Oli, ‘The work of women and children has become the work of carrying water, there is no alternative to walking for at least half an hour for a jug of water.’ 

The earthquake also damaged the Bayala drinking water project in Barekot-1. After the source was submerged due to the earthquake, about 200 families from Bayala and surrounding villages are forced to walk for about half an hour to get water from rivers including Panikhola, Laherikhola, Jamun and others. ‘The one jug of water brought in the morning is not enough to cook food,’ said local Saraswati Gharti, ‘After the drought, the springs around the village also dried up. Not to mention hunger and thirst, one person has to carry water all day long. Now we are forced to use water intermittently.’

According to the District Disaster Management Committee Jajarkot, the springs of 143 drinking water schemes across the district have dried up due to the earthquake that hit Barekot, Jajarkot on 17 Kartik 2080. According to the committee, the supply of drinking water was cut off due to the collapse of tanks, pipelines and other structures of 106 drinking water schemes. 

Purnakala Rana of Bheri-1 Rimna said that living in a tent has become difficult due to the problem of drinking water. According to her, about 150 households in Rimna have been struggling to find water for drinking, going to the toilet and feeding their livestock. She said that the water from the Budbudi drinking water source above the village stopped flowing into the tap after the earthquake caused it to overflow. She complains that now she is forced to go to the Bheri River, half an hour away, to fetch water. “Due to the lack of water, we are forced to go to the nearby bushes to defecate,” she said. “The government has neglected to build permanent housing, and has not even provided drinking water.” 

In Jajarkot, the most affected area is Nalgad Municipality, where 23 schemes were completely damaged and 26 schemes were partially damaged, said the mayor of the municipality, Dambar Bahadur Rawat. Although some schemes damaged by the earthquake have been repaired, nearly 3,000 families are forced to search for water in rivers, the Bheri River, and various springs after the springs began to dry up due to a long drought.

 ‘Residents of settlements along the banks of the Bheri River are forced to consume contaminated water from the river,’ Rawat said, ‘Health problems including diarrhea and dysentery have also started appearing due to contaminated water.’ With the increasing heat, the number of patients suffering from fever, cold, typhoid, diarrhea and other diseases has increased due to contaminated water, said Vishal Upreti, head of Nalgad Municipal Hospital. He said that up to 150 patients come to the hospital for treatment every day.

Badri Pant, ward chair of Nalgad Municipality-4, said that the water shortage in Jajarkot, which was already experiencing a shortage of water, has worsened after the earthquake. ‘After the earthquake, there was a long drought last year and this year,’ he said, ‘After the water dried up, there was no option but to drink the contaminated water of the Bheri River.’ He said that the shortage of water has had a major impact on animal husbandry. Barekot Rural Municipality Chair Bir Bahadur Giri said that plans have been prioritized to solve the problem of water shortage. ‘The earthquake has also damaged drinking water schemes in all wards along with other public structures,’ he said, ‘Last year, work was done on about 20 schemes, and we have given priority to drinking water in the current year as well.’