It has been four years since Kalimati Rural Municipality implemented a drinking water project in Ward 1 Kot by allocating a budget of Rs 10 million. As the project has not been completed yet, 22 families in the settlement were forced to walk 45 minutes to the spring for a jug of drinking water.

As the spring dries up due to the long-standing drought, local women are forced to walk for an hour more for a jug of water. As the problem is increasing day by day, local women are forced to fetch water from the river and use it.

Not only Kot in Kalimati Rural Municipality, but dozens of settlements in the upper reaches of Salyan are facing a shortage of drinking water as the spring dries up due to the drought. Chotre and Kot settlements in Kalimati, Maidu, Karakot, Kafalpani, Deuli, Dobke, Thara, Kupinde, Adheri, Simalchaur in Bangad Kupinde Municipality, Danbang, Kapurkot, Garpa, Rim, Khare, Sinbang in Kapurkot, Damachaur Gurase, Garche, Lekhpokhara in Chhatreswari, Khali, Charkhola, Bangelakhuri, Kotbara, Kotmaula, Kotbed in Bagchaur Municipality, Hile, Turture, Seripata, Gurdase in Kumakh, Ratikhola, Champutakura, Adherikhola, Kafalgaira, Ojabang in Darma, Pipalneta, Sailakamt, Sahutola, Madhamkanda, Sunchaur in Sharda Municipality and settlements in the upper reaches of Tribeni Rural Municipality are facing shortage of drinking water.

Despite sporadic rains since the month of Jestha, many springs have dried up due to the increasing heat and the lack of regular water supply in places where the Lift Drinking Water Scheme has been completed, and people are forced to walk for half an hour to an hour for local drinking water. Some are forced to use river water.

Even the water level in the springs of the completed scheme has decreased, but problems have arisen. As the springs are drying up, nearly 20,000 families in the district have been affected in the recent past. Although the Lift Drinking Water Scheme was completed by the Water Supply and Energy Development Office at a cost of over Rs 10 million, the springs are drying up due to drought, Keshar Khatri, a local of Chotre, Kalimati Rural Municipality 1, said that since last Jestha, it has been taking turns to fill the tap only once every three days. He informed that 35 families have been affected due to the lack of regular water supply in the tap.

He said, ‘A situation has arisen where people have to go out to feed their animals and for cleaning.’ If there is no rain for a few days, there will be a shortage of drinking water. In the past, many people had to migrate due to the problem of drinking water.'

As most of the springs around the settlement have dried up due to drought, now we have to walk for more than half an hour to reach the springs located near the forest and the river for a jug of water, said Bimala Budha, 45, of Gogankatera, Kupinde Municipality-6, Bangad. She informed that we have to wait for more than half an hour at the spring for a jug of water.

'We have been relying on spring water for a long time due to lack of planning in the past. Now, after most of the springs have dried up, we are worried about drinking water. We cannot sleep well and have to go to the spring with a torch. If you don't reach the spring on time, you have to return immediately without being able to fill it,' she said. 'Due to the water problem, children who are studying cannot go to school regularly and cannot clean their houses.'

Pavitra Bohara of Sharda Municipality 4 said that it was difficult to cook and eat after there was no water in the tap for five consecutive days. She informed that even though there is a tap at home, she has to go to a spring that is 45 minutes away for water. 'Despite repeated requests to the officials of the Drinking Water Consumers Committee, they have been avoiding it, saying that the water in the spring has decreased due to drought and that the remaining farmers have used it in their fields, so what is the problem?' she said.

Ward Chairman Ganesh Budha of Bangad Kupinde Municipality-6 said that there is no good source of water and when the springs dry up during the summer, Karakot, Chautara, Maidu, Durakhola, Lampata, Srichabhar, and Gogankatera settlements of the ward have been facing water shortages from Chaitra to Asar in the past and the same problem is recurring now.

Durga Bahadur Pun, Chairman of Kapurkot Rural Municipality, said that despite the completion of the lift drinking water scheme and the installation of taps in every household, 3,000 families from all the settlements in the upper part of the municipality have been affected due to the drought. He informed that as the springs are drying up, water is coming in the taps for half an hour every two or three days, and distant springs have started flowing. He said that it is not only the water problem but also the farmers are not able to irrigate their vegetables.

Bharat Dangi, head of the drinking water and sanitation program of Kumakh Rural Municipality, said that there are many problems with drinking water as the existing springs are drying up and the drinking water project has not been completed in all places. According to him, the problem is due to the decrease in water in the springs of the drinking water projects completed in the past by the Drinking Water and Energy Development Office, the municipality and various organizations. He said that the water problem will reduce if there is rain.

Even though the drinking water and sanitation project has completed 17 lift drinking water projects, 1,500 families in Darma are still without access to drinking water, said Deep Chand, coordinator of the drinking water and sanitation project of Darma. He informed that in some places where the solar lift drinking water project has been completed, water does not come to the taps unless the sun shines, so people have to walk for two hours to get drinking water. He said that preparations are being made to implement the project in settlements with drinking water problems.