Residents of Palung Mainadi Dab village in Ribdikot Rural Municipality-7, Palpa have painted 64 houses with the same color. The village now looks different after painting the old tin cans.

According to local Sita Kunwar, the villagers came together and decided to paint the roofs of their houses with the same color at their own expense. ‘Our village had different colors,’ she said, ‘and it was said that if we paint them the same, it would look better. So everyone agreed and we did it this way.’ The tins in some houses were very old. She said that she painted them this way because she had heard that painting them this way would extend the life of the tin for at least 10 years.

According to local Pramod Kunwar, about 1.3 million rupees were spent on painting 64 houses and sheds. Individuals spent between 9,000 and 36,000 rupees on this. 7 houses of poor families in the village were painted completely free of charge.  The cost for those who painted them for free was between 9,500 and 27,000 rupees. 

The locals of Dabka have painted the roofs of their houses and sheds with the slogan ‘One color, one mind: money from their own pockets’. Some assistance has been provided for poor and financially challenged families. Rural Municipality Chairman Narayan Bahadur Karki has contributed 50,000 rupees, Bhaluvan Community Forest Users Group Dabka has contributed 50,000 rupees, and Self-reliant Agricultural Cooperative Organization Dabka has contributed 30,000 rupees. Chairman Karki said that the rural municipality has not invested a single rupee in this work. 

‘All the residents of the village have come together and invested themselves, which has set a model,’ Chairman Karki said, ‘It is also important that other villagers take this as a model and get inspired to invest themselves.’