A large dry pond without water in an open place at the top of the village. A green square that looks like a playground from a distance. This is Pangeli Dah (Pokhri) at Pachaljharna-7 Nuwaghar in Kalikot.

Even in the months of July-August, the drought is getting into crisis due to lack of water. Locals complain that the rainwater is accumulating and is falling into crisis due to the lack of protection of ponds that are used to feed the animals and make the land juicy. 

Kal Bahadur Aidy, the Ward President of Pachaljharna-7, which was in crisis after the water in the Pangeli Dah above the settlement dried up to keep the dry land below the village juicy.   said,   'This Dah at the top of the village has been around for generations,' he said, 'it used to be full when it was small, but after it was made bigger, it stopped filling.' According to him, there will be no water if the Prime Minister spends 1.5 lakhs on the employment program and makes it bigger. He said that after filling the rain water and feeding the cattle even in the dry season of winter and keeping the soil moist, there were signs of drought in the village after the water stopped freezing. He said that even though he requested water supply in the village for the protection of the dam, it was not completed.

Pangeli Dah area was declared as Pangeli tourism area by the local government in 076. After expanding it, there is a problem of not filling the pond with water, said Dharmaraj Bohora, a ward member.

This place with a forest area around it is a dry area due to forest destruction. There is also a temple near the pond in the name of Bindral Devi Chetal Mashto Devi. Locals have been protecting daha to save the water source from drying up by moistening the land of the village and drinking the water of the animals. A fair is held at this place on 15th of August.

Although the local government announced the Pangeli tourism zone, it was told that the protection of the forest has not been done. Bohora narrated that after the water from the traditional daha dried up, water was brought from the Dogad river irrigation well and poured into the pond for 3 years, but later the water stopped flowing.

Local Gangaram Bohora said that the land of the village has become dry due to the lack of water in the Pangeli Dah, which has been there for generations in Siran of Nuwaghar village, where ethnic groups such as Bohora, Bogti and Budha live. 'At that time (earlier) the rains of July and August used to fill the pond,' said 79-year-old Gangaram Bohora of Pachaljharna-7 Nuwaghar, 'now the water does not last.'

The principal of Pangeli Mavi, Dharmaraj Bohora, said that due to increasing forest destruction, changes in the weather, construction of roads using random dozers, water sources are drying up and water is also falling from the sky. He suggested that a water stream should be kept permanently for the protection of Pangeli Dah.

The local Cuttack Bom says that the water of a big spring on another hill has also dried up. The traditional recharge pond helped the animals to drink water and recharge the land throughout the year, so it helped to save them from drought . He said that some of them have dried up and some have been encroached upon by people.

Valavayu expert Leelaram Neupane says that traditional ponds should be protected. He says that although there are ponds filled with rainwater in places in Lekali area of ​​Kalikot, they are decreasing. He says that if the local government makes a plan for conservation and fills the pond with water, the land will be recharged and there will be no problem of drought.

Devanand Dhital, Information Officer of Water Supply, Irrigation and Energy Development Office, Kalikot, said that since the construction of cement ponds and cisterns started in the village, the land could not be recharged. "Traditional wells and ponds are in crisis due to the use of cement in the name of development," he said.

Since there is no source of water, Karna Prasad Chaulagai, president of Himalayan Community Resource Development Center, Kalikot, said that a campaign should be launched to make it easier for wild animals to drink water in Lekali area.